Early Tourism Figures Show Bermuda Ranks Fifth Worst in Region

Bermuda ranks in the five worst performing islands after air arrivals dipped 4.6 percent last year, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

And the Island scored the second worst performance among the 28 CTO members for cruise ship arrivals which dropped 19 percent from 2007 to 2008, although Government had said cruise numbers would fall and would pick up again this year as the new terminal at Dockyard comes on line.

However yesterday Shadow Tourism Minister Michael Dunkley said it was time for the Tourism Department to stop spending on splashy events like music festivals that don’t bring in significant numbers of tourists, and “focus on the markets that matter”.

Mr. Dunkley said the reason why, for example, Aruba’s air and cruise arrivals increased 15 percent in 2008 was because they flooded major U.S. markets with advertising.

According to the latest statistics from the CTO, cruise and hotel visits to many Caribbean and Atlantic island destinations declined last year, but many turned in increases.

Among the 28 CTO members: Anguilla and St. Vincent and the Grenadines fared the worst, with air arrivals down 10.8 percent and 9.5 percent from January to August (several islands had not submitted figures yet for the full year).

They were followed by Montserrat, with arrivals down five percent from January to December, and then Bermuda, Martinique (-4.4 percent January to August) and Grenada (-4.1 percent January to December).

Cuba (+9.1 percent January to December) and Curacao (+31 percent January to September) fared the best, followed by Aruba which saw arrivals increase 15 percent in peak months January to June.

As a result of a deeper downturn predicted in 2009, many islands are offering spring deals. Bermuda Tourism Department is offering 400th anniversary specials of up to $400 credits at participating hotels. And airlines USA3000 is offering $99 one way flights, while JetBlue has one-way fares from New York’s JFK from $99.