Gov’t counts cost of battering from pandemic

HAMILTON (CMC):

Bermuda’s previously thriving tourism industry has been dealt a US$95-million first-quarter blow by the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world with no indication when the island will reopen its borders, which have been closed since March 20.

Figures released by the Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA) on Tuesday showed visitor air arrivals fell by 38 per cent in the first three months of the year while cruise ship arrivals tumbled by 41.8 per cent.

However, Glenn Jones, the BTA’s interim chief executive, said those figures captured only the start of the COVID-19 crisis.

He said 67 cruise ship visits for 2020 had already been cancelled, that is 35 per cent of all scheduled cruises, and it was estimated that 36,600 visitor air arrivals have been lost since March 20.

BREAKDOWN OF LOSSES

“If you measure out the visitor spending from those cancelled cruise ships, it would be just over $44 million. If you estimate how much those air visitors would have spent, that’s another $51.3 million. That’s $95 million total – and that doesn’t include taxes and fees. That’s money that would be spent in people’s businesses, that go towards people’s jobs,” said Jones, who added that the decline in visitors was “unparalleled” in Bermuda’s modern history.

“This year’s second quarter is even more worrying, as the return dates of regularly scheduled air and cruise travel to Bermuda remain unknown,” he added.

“Heading into 2020, a lack of air capacity was our biggest concern. Now, our biggest challenge is getting the tourism economy open again, safely and responsibly.”

Bermuda enjoyed a record year in 2019 when 808,242 visitors visited the island.