In the Central Bank of The Bahamas' (CBOB) Monthly Economic and Financial Developments (MEFD) for July 2023, published yesterday, the bank revealed that the country's recovery from the economic downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic "neared completion" given the growth trajectory of the economy.

"Preliminary indications are that during the month of July, the growth trajectory of the domestic economy persisted, although at a moderated pace, with indicators reverting to trend ...," the MEFD reads.

According to the CBOB, the tourism sector, which provides the majority of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), continued to show strong growth, with a high proportion of high-value stopover visitors continuing to be recorded.

It added that strong growth in arrivals by sea, especially cruise travel, continues on a positive trend.

The report said this growth is attributed to continuing demand for travel in The Bahamas' key source markets.

"Monthly data revealed that tourism maintained a healthy growth momentum in July, amid strong gains in both the high-value air traffic and the sea segment, on account of the ongoing demand for travel in the major source markets," the MEFD said.

"The most recent data provided by the Nassau Airport Development Company Limited (NAD) indicated that total departures in July—net of domestic passengers - rose by 15.7 percent to 167,052, relative to the comparative period in 2022.

"Specifically, US departures increased by 16.1 percent to 149,967, while non-U.S. departures grew by 12.5 percent to 17,085, compared to the previous year.

"On a year-to-date basis, total outbound traffic expanded by 28.1 percent to approximately 1 million passengers.

"In particular, US departures moved higher by 28 percent to almost 0.9 million visitors, vis-à-vis the same period in 2022. Likewise, non-US departures rose by 28.8 percent to just over 0.1 million visitors, compared to the prior year."

The CBOB's report said the short-term vacation rental market also continued to show positive trends, with the latest data from AirDNA showing that in July total room nights sold increased to 201,530 from 170,904 in the corresponding 2022 period.

"Reflecting this outturn, the occupancy rates for both entire place and hotel comparable listings rose to 67 percent and 60.2 percent, respectively, relative to 61.8 percent and 55 percent in the prior year," the MEFD said.

The post Country's economy trending back to normal following COVID, says Central Bank appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

The post Country's economy trending back to normal following COVID, says Central Bank appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian