The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

BAHA Mar expects occupancy during the traditionally slow late-summer and early-autumn period to run 10 to 15 percent ahead of last year, extending a strong 2026 performance.

Senior Vice-President Robert Sands said the period from August 15 through mid-October — historically one of the slower periods for Bahamian tourism and commonly referred to as the shoulder season — is performing better than it did in 2025.

“This year, for the first time in The Bahamas, slow is not traditionally slow. It's slower, but better than last year,” he said yesterday.

Mr Sands said Baha Mar is seeing occupancy growth of at least 10 to 15 percent compared with the same traditionally weak period last year.

The performance could be significant against the backdrop of a growing debate over the composition of The Bahamas’ record-breaking visitor numbers. While the country attracts far more cruise passengers than stopover visitors, stopover tourism is regarded as the higher-value segment because those visitors spend on hotel rooms and a wider range of services during longer stays.

That distinction has become increasingly important as much of the country’s recent growth in overall visitor arrivals has been driven by cruise traffic.

The Bahamas received a record 12.5 million visitors in 2025, according to Ministry of Tourism figures, with more than 10.6 million arriving by sea and nearly 1.7 million arriving by air.

The Central Bank of The Bahamas has repeatedly highlighted the importance of the stopover segment to tourism earnings. Last year, it reported that tourism growth was being moderated by softer stopover performance even as cruise arrivals remained strong.

That picture has improved this year. The Central Bank said in June that tourism remained robust, supported by a rebound in the high-value-added stopover segment alongside continued cruise growth.

Mr Sands said growth was occurring across the cruise, Airbnb and stopover sectors.

“What we are seeing is that there is growth in terms of occupancy levels,” he said. “Things are improving, and of course, you know there are different sectors: the cruise sector, the Airbnb sector, the stopover sector, and we're seeing growth in all three of those areas.”

Baha Mar’s outlook follows particularly strong occupancy earlier this year.

In March, the Cable Beach resort recorded 94 percent occupancy, one of its highest levels since opening. Mr Sands said at the time that major New Providence resorts were seeing occupancy levels flat to slightly ahead of 2025, with room rates also helping to drive revenue.

In July, Baha Mar said it was on track to maintain occupancies in the high-80s to low-90s through July and August, defying the destination’s traditionally softer summer period.

The resort attributed that performance in part to increased Canadian visitation, additional airlift and strong group business.

The stronger outlook represents a sharp improvement over Baha Mar’s experience during last year’s slow season.

In September 2025, occupancy at the resort was around 30 percent and was forecast to finish about 20 percent below the same month in 2024. Baha Mar described that period as a “slower than normal slow season”.