Vacation rentals increase 50% despite subdued visitor arrival numbers

Although visitor arrival numbers remained subdued during November when the tourism sector officially reopened, there was a nearly 50 percent increase in short-term vacation rentals, according to the latest data provided by vacation rental data website AirDNA.

In fact, total room nights sold surpassed the 36.1 percent increase in November 2019 to land at 49.7 percent this year.

This was supported by an uptick in ‘entire place’ accommodations, which grew by 52.1 percent; and ‘hotel comparable’ listings which grew by 45.5 percent, as outlined in The Central Bank of The Bahamas’ (CBOB) Monthly Economic and Financial Developments report for November.

“Pricing data revealed the average daily room rate (ADR) for both entire place listings and hotel comparable listings grew by 22.2 percent and 13.9 percent, to $451.26 and $163.62, respectively,” the report states.

“Domestic spending also stemmed the cumulative losses when compared to the hotel sector. Over the eleven-month period, total room nights sold declined by 46.4 percent, as bookings for entire place listings were lower by 47.5 percent and hotel comparable bookings contracted by 36.7 percent. Pricing indicator outcomes were mixed, as the ADR for entire place listings rose by four percent to $406.43, while the ADR for hotel comparable listings fell by 1.2 percent to $152.02.”

The month of November also saw a 73.1 percent decrease in the number of international departures through Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA), compared to November 2019. The latest data from the Nassau Airport Development Company Limited (NAD) revealed that for the month of November, total international departures decreased to 9,777 passengers. During the same period last year there were 110,848 international departures.

“By destination, the US component reduced significantly by 74.1 percent, a turnaround from the 14.3 percent expansion in 2019. Likewise, the non-U.S. international component declined by 66.9 percent, vis-à-vis a 5.9 percent increase a year earlier,” the CBOB report notes.

This contraction in the tourism sector is a continued trend from the start of global travel restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The month of October saw a 98.4 percent decline in total foreign arrivals, compared with 6.6 percent growth during October 2019.

Official data provided by the Ministry of Tourism (MOT) revealed that visitors who arrived by air decreased by 92.7 percent, an extension of last year’s 11.4 percent decline; and sea traffic was down by 99.5 percent, compared to the 10.7 percent gain in 2019.

“A breakdown by major islands showed that in New Providence total arrivals were only 0.9 percent of the prior year’s outturn, underpinned by significant reductions in both sea (99.8 percent) and air (96.9 percent) arrivals,” the data contained in the MEFD reveals.

“For Grand Bahama, total visitors matched just 5.6 percent of the 2019 volumes, as air arrivals reached 62.1 percent of the previous year’s levels. Similarly, visitors to the Family Islands corresponded to 2.3 percent of the prior year’s volumes, with air arrivals matching 34.5 percent of the 2019 levels.”

Total foreign arrivals are down by 70.5 percent for the year.

This is a complete turnaround of the more than 10 percent growth experienced in 2019, which saw more than 7 million foreign arrivals.

Tourism officials have said they do not expect a rebound to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2022.

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/vacation-rentals-increase-50-despite-subdued-visitor-arrival-numbers/