Tourism stakeholders in Barbados are reporting a “positive” outlook for the country, as numbers exceeded pre-pandemic levels in 2022.
Chairman of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA), Renèe Coppin during a press briefing declared that the last quarter of 2022 ended on a “relatively high note”, with arrivals for December surpassing 2019.
In December 2022, 59, 216 arrivals were recorded, a 4.58 per cent increase to December 2019 which had 56, 624.
Occupancy rates were also higher, Coppin added. According to the Smith Travel Report (STR), occupancy was at 87 per cent and 77.9 per cent in November and December respectively.
November’s occupancy was more than 10 per cent higher to 2019 and December increased by 3.8 per cent.
The head of the island’s largest tourism organisation, expects the island’s “strong performance” to persist into the first quarter of 2023.
