By the Caribbean Journal staff

The island of Bermuda is seeing a boom in tourism spending so far in 2017, according to the latest data from the Bermuda Tourism Authority.

Bermuda, buoyed by its hosting of the America’s Cup sailing race earlier this year, is reporting $222.3 million in spending by stayover tourist arrivals through the first nine months of the year, a 22 percent increase over the same period in 2016.

That represents an additional $40.7 million for the local economy compared to last year.

Indeed, it’s already more than leisure tourists spent in Bermuda all of last year.

Room rates have also seen a 10 percent jump, while revenue per available room is up 19.5 percent. Occupancy has also seen a nine percent increase.

“In the first nine months of the year, leisure air visitor spending has already surpassed the entire year of 2016,” said Bermuda Tourism Authority Chief Executive Kevin Dallas. “Undoubtedly the America’s Cup helped drive spending figures higher this year, and now we see from the latest data: visitor spending has remained strong post-America’s Cup.”

And that’s borne out in the numbers.

Stayover arrivals increased by 8.9 percent and 10.5 percent in July and August, respectively, long after America’s Cup concluded.

The island did struggle in September, largely the result of the storms in the Caribbean that colored the perception of many travelers and did cause the cancellation of a number of flights to Bermuda, too.