Monthly Economic and Financial Developments, August 2006
Published: Friday October 6th, 2006
During the review month, economic activity continued to expand, supported by strong residential and hotel construction activity, brisk consumer spending and sustained improvement in tourism.
Total arrivals for June 2006 firmed by 3.4% in comparison with the same period a year ago, reflecting expansions in both the air and sea components, which grew by 1.7% and 4.5%, respectively. The Family Islands’ segment posted the largest gain, as an 8.4% advance in air visitors and a 17.9% surge in sea tourists resulted in a 15.4% upturn in overall arrivals. Meanwhile, visitors to New Providence, at 56.3% of the total, were marginally higher by 0.9%, on account of improvements in both air and sea arrivals of a similar magnitude. In contrast, Grand Bahama recorded a 7.4% decline in total visitors, corresponding to reductions in both air (3.5%) and sea (9.3%) arrivals.
The latest information regarding hotel performance for the month of May suggests that room revenues rose by 12.7% to $33.2 million, outpacing the $29.5 million intake in the previous year. The majority of this improvement was attributed to the Grand Bahama market, which recorded a 24.5% advance to $4.6 million in total room revenues, on account of a 17.9% hike in the average daily room rate and a 5.6% rise in occupied room nights. In New Providence, room revenues were also higher by 11.2%, as occupied room nights and the average daily room rate rose by 8.8% and 2.1%, respectively. A slightly lower gain of 9.8% was registered for Family Island room receipts, as the firming in average room rates offset the reduction in occupied room nights.
For the twelve-month period ended August 2006, the rate of increase in consumer prices slowed to 1.5% from 2.0% in the same period a year ago. Major increases were registered for other goods & services (4.9%), food & beverages (4.4%) and housing (2.6%). However, cost declines were recorded for recreation, entertainment & services (2.3%) and transport & communication (2.0%).
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