The Bahamas had a very successful year in 2019 as the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism & Aviation exceeded a record-breaking seven million visitors. Even in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, the Ministry believes that data-driven, agile marketing, authentic storytelling and aggressive PR, sales and airlift strategies drew in the tourism needed to keep the Bahamas strong.
Since 2009, the islands have seen a steady 52 percent increase in air and sea arrivals within 10 years. According to the Department of Immigration, Port Authority and Customs, foreign air and sea arrivals had totaled over 7.2 million by the end of 2019, the highest number of arrivals in the country's history. Stopover visitors alone were the highest in recorded history at 1.78 million with American visitors accounting for 1.45 million.
In addition to receiving the highest number of visitors in 2019, The Bahamas also received a number of awards and accolades in the same year. The islands were recognized in awards such as Condé Nast Traveler's 2019 Readers' Choice Awards, Caribbean Journal's Travelers' Choice Awards and CHTA's Caribbean Hospitality Industry Exchange Forum Awards. The Bahamas also received the following media accolades:
-New York Times' "52 Places to Go in 2020"
-Frommer's "Best Places to Go in 2020"
-Fodor's Go List 2020
-The Globe & Mail's "Where to Go in 2020"
-Virtuoso Traveler's "20 for 2020"
Earlier this year, the Ministry debuted a new, multi-channel creative campaign to show tourists the strength of The Bahamas in the wake of Hurricane Dorian. The campaign features Bahamian-American rock legend Lenny Kravitz to reflect the authentic spirit of The Bahamas as a destination of adventure and discovery.
With major airlines increasing their airlift to Nassau, the islands of The Bahamas predict an increase of arrivals by air in 2020. United Airlines will be adding Saturday-only non-stop service from Denver to Nassau from March 7, 2020, to August 15, 2020.
British Airways will be providing non-stop service between London Heathrow and Nassau every Tuesday starting March 29, 2020, and now offers non-stop service between London and Nassau Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Delta Airlines is now offering daily nonstop flights from Boston Logan Airport to Nassau's Lynden Pindling International Airport until April 30, 2020.
For more information, visit bahamas.com/flyaway.
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