Report: short-term rental occupancies double

The short-term rental market is having a much improved start in the fourth quarter of 2021, with room nights sold more than doubling compared to the same period last year, according to The Central Bank of The Bahamas’ (CBOB) Monthly Economic Financial Developments (MEFD) report for October, which also revealed that stopover arrivals increased to 58,857 in October, from just 4,794 in 2020.

The vacation rental market had an increase in sold room nights to 71,234 compared to 26,656 last October, according to the report, which uses data from market research site AirDNA.

AirDNA also revealed that occupancy rates improved last month for entire place listings from 29.1 percent last October to 44.7 percent this October, while hotel comparable listings went from 30.6 percent last year to 42.4 percent this year.

“Price indicators improved year over year, as the average daily room rate (ADR) increased for entire place listings and hotel comparable listings by 25.4 percent and by 17.4 percent, to $462.78 and $168.65, respectively,” the report states.

“On a year-to-date basis, total room nights sold firmed by 50.3 percent, reflecting respective gains in bookings for entire place and hotel comparable listings, of 52.5 percent and 32.8 percent.”

Sea traffic to The Bahamas from September improved to 115,312 from a dismal 1,862 a year earlier, as major cruise lines began returning many more ships into service since halting operations 20 months earlier because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The CBOB report revealed that tourism outputs have maintained strength through October “undergirded by gains in the high value-added air segment and uptick in sea traffic”.

The bank said these improvements reflect progress in vaccination efforts locally and internationally.

“The most recent data provided by Nassau Airport Development Company Limited (NAD) revealed that total departures – net of domestic passengers – rose to 58,857 in October, from a modest 4,794 in the corresponding month of 2020,” the MEFD report states.

“In particular, US departures recovered to 51,941 from 3,629 in the prior year, while non-US departures increased to 6,916, from 1,165. On a year-to-date basis, outward bound traffic expanded by 50.6 percent, following a decline of 70 percent last year.

“Underpinning this outturn, US departures grew by 67.2 percent, a turnaround from a 72.7 percent falloff in the previous year. In addition, the decline in non-US departures slowed to 44.3 percent, from 64.8 percent in the comparative period of 2020.”

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/report-short-term-rental-occupancies-double/