With the passage of Hurricane Dorian which caused extensive damage to the airport and the global COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism industry in Grand Bahama has been challenged. However, Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation, the Hon. Chester Cooper, is predicting a rebound.
“Our tourism numbers are doing very well. Grand Bahama is doing a lot better than last year and we are on par with 2019. So I anticipate that we are going to match 2019 numbers in The Bahamas. We’re going to end the year somewhere around 7.2-7.3 million based on my forecast and what I see in forward bookings. This is inline with 2019,2019 was a record setting year , so we’re going to match that.”
Cooper was in Grand Bahama at the cruise port when he made these comments. He also said that officials have been in active dialogue with many of the cruise lines to make more calls to Freeport.