Bermuda Tourism Not Doing to Good so far this Season

Bermuda´s visitor arrival figures slumped again in April, continuing a trend seen in the first quarter of the year, but industry experts have blamed this on fewer hotel beds being available than last year.

There were 34,578 visitors on April - down 1.3 per cent from 35,050 for the same month last year. But figures show that for the year to date, arrivals are down 3.5 per cent at 70,519.

The number of air visitors was off 10.3 per cent at 22,429 in April, while for the year to date, air passengers are down 8.3 per cent at 57,495.

There was better news on the cruise ship side, with April arrivals up 23.5 per cent at 11,791, and for the year to date cruise passengers are ahead 29.5 per cent at 12,534.

Nevertheless, the Bermuda Alliance for Tourism (BAT) has predicted big increases for the summer as new beds come online following hurricane repairs and Tourism Minister Renée Webb said she continued to be upbeat that the island would enjoy a great season this year.

Bermuda Hotel Association (BHA) president Norman Mastalir said there was the equivalent of 24,180 fewer bed nights this April compared to last year because of rooms not available at the former Sonesta Beach, Elbow Beach and Fairmont Southampton Princess hotels due to hurricane damage.

Despite this, there was a drop of just 472 visitors overall in April.

"The numbers are wonderful. For us to have 24,180 rooms not available and for us to have just these small decreases is tremendous," Mastalir said.

Last week, hoteliers reported being booked out for some months with many predicting the best season in years.