The Bahamas’ number one destination is hotter than ever.
Nassau Paradise Island, the twin-island destination that represents the most popular place to visit in The Bahamas, is seeing surging tourism numbers, according to new data from the Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board.
Nassau Paradise Island has “fully recovered” from the pandemic, officials told Caribbean Journal, and finished 2022 “above what the Promotion Board saw in its record year in 2019.”
That included a 23.2 percentage-point increase in average occupancy for Nassau Paradise Island hotels, up from 42 percent in 2021 to 65.2 percent last year.
Room revenue surpassed 2021 levels by a whopping 112 percent as well.
In another strong trend, visitors to the destination are staying longer: length of stay in Nassau Paradise Island is now approaching 6 nights on average — an increase of between half and one full day.
“It has been wonderful to see tourism to Nassau Paradise Island surpass pre-pandemic levels, and we are continuing to build on the momentum from last year to drive demand and make 2023 a banner year,” said Joy Jibrilu, CEO of NPIPB. “Our island destination has so much to offer all types of visitors and as I reflect on 2022, I am so thankful for our partners and am extremely optimistic for the new year full of new resorts, more nonstop air service, new and returning special events, and more!”
Air arrivals through last December were at 90 parent of pre-pandemic levels, and projections for this year continue to grow.
February seats are already up 15 percent from last year’s levels, averaging 5,358 seats per day.
The news comes as the island continues to add more routes, with more nonstop air service coming from markets like New York this year.
The surging tourism numbers are borne out in online demand: the Board said visits to its Web site were up 69 percent last year, with search demand for keywords like Bahamas and Nassau seeing 20 percent and 41 percent annual jumps, respectively.
The island’s hotels, from larger properties like Atlantis Paradise Island and Baha Mar to new resorts like the Margaritaville Beach Resort and boutique hotels like Graycliff continue to see strong performance.
And this month, Nassau Paradise Island added another new resort, the highly-anticipated new Goldwynn luxury resort on Cable Beach.
For more, visit Nassau Paradise Island.