by Natario McKenzie (Eyewitness News) NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Bahamas continues to see a strong performance in tourism as it is on pace to “shatter” last year’s numbers and its record 2019 performance,
Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper yesterday revealed this nation welcomed nearly one million visitors in January.
During his contribution to the mid-year budget debate yesterday, Cooper who has ministerial responsibility for Tourism, Aviation, and Investments said: “When we look at what is happening in 2023 we are shattering 2022 numbers and 2019 numbers.
“What is even better news is that I am able to reveal is that we saw nearly one million visitors come to The Bahamas in the first month of this year alone. In January we had nearly one million visitors to The Bahamas,” said Cooper.
According to Cooper, this nation welcomed 846,000 visitors in January of this year, compared to 300,000 in January of 2022. Cooper noted that a 20 percent growth in this country’s tourism segment is forecast for this year.
“We have every reason to believe that we are going to meet and exceed that target,” he said.
He also noted that departure tax collected for the first six months of the fiscal year totaled $71.5 million an improvement of $45 million or 85 percent over the prior year.
