Tourism continued its upward trend, with the latest figures from the Bermuda Tourism Authority showing April year-over-year growth in leisure air arrivals climbed by 17 percent.

April was the 16^th consecutive month of growth for Bermuda’s tourism sector. And year-to-date, leisure air arrivals are up 18 percent through April 30^th, 2017 – a near 32 percent increase for the four-month period when compared to two years ago.

The growth in leisure air arrivals for April came from all three countries that serve Bermuda with direct air service – the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The largest year-over-year percentage increase came from Canadian visitors with a 23 percent increase. The United States and United Kingdom both saw double digit percentage increases in April, as well.

Visitors from the U.K remain slightly off the year-to-date pace – down 7 percent when compared to a year ago.  

The hotel sector continued to show solid improvement, growing occupancy levels by nine percentage points from 57 percent last April to 66 percent this April. At the same time, due largely to stronger vacationer demand, hoteliers were able to charge more for their rooms on average than they did a year ago.

Minister of Tourism, Transport and Municipalities Senator the Hon. Michael Fahy JP welcomed the news and pointed out: “A strong performance in the hotel sector is very good news for hoteliers, hotel workers and good for attracting future hotel investment to the island.

“This is making a positive impact on the lives of thousands of people working on the front lines of hospitality today.

“At the same time, consistent growth in visitor arrivals and spending helps us bring capital into Bermuda to further grow our tourism product. As more hotel rooms come online, more jobs are created across the island. We’re on pace to add 1,500 hotel rooms over the next ten years.”

The full arrivals report for April 2017 is available on the Bermuda Tourism Authority website.