the bahamas tourism economy: 2008€¦ · nassau/pi, grand bahama and abaco economies that benefit...

THE BAHAMAS TOURISM ECONOMY: 2008

The Government of The Bahamas extends a sincere "Thank You"to visitors who participate in the Visitor Expenditure Survey.

Research and Statistics Branch

The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism

September 2009

1

THE BAHAMAS TOURISM ECONOMY 2008

Tourism is a major force in The Bahamas’ Economy. According to information compiled by the Ministry of Finance, Department of Statistics, expenditures by visitors from other countries comprise 69% of The Bahamas’ export earnings and nearly 22% of direct expenditures in Gross Domestic Product1. When the multiplier effect is taken into account, visitor expenditures underpin 51% of the The Bahamas’ economy2.

In 2008, the Ministry of Tourism commenced the Visitor Expenditure Survey (VES) to reveal in detail the expenditures of stopover visitors to The Bahamas. The effort aimed at vastly improving the quality and quantity of statistics collected through its Exit Surveys to meet the increasing demands for accurate and more detailed data to feed its System of National and associated Tourism Satellite Accounts.

The Report, that follows, describes the first year results of the VES- The Bahamas Tourism Economy:2008, which details stopover visitor expenditures. This Summary highlights the core statistics from that Report and places them within the context of all tourism expenditures.

All visitors to The Bahamas in 2008 spent $2,501 billion estimated by combining data from the VES with casino revenues and cruise and day visitor spending3.

As Figure 1 and its associated table shows, the vast majority of tourist spending comes from visitors who stay at least one night in The Bahamas, stopover visitors, particular those staying on the capital island of New Providence. Stopovers spent $2,332 billion in total, some 93% of total tourism spending. The $1,654 billion spent in New Providence represents 70.9% of total stopover spending in The Bahamas and 66.1% of all tourism spending in 2008.

1 The Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Department of Statistics. National Accounts Tables 2006. (Page 86) 2 The Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Department of Statistics. National Accounts Tables 2006. (Analysis, vii) 3 Total Tourism Expenditure is derived by adding the portion of Casino Win Revenues and Tokes estimated to be spent by stopovers (98% based on Industry estimates) to the VES estimate, as well as to estimates based on past BMOT surveys of cruise and day visitors. Note that a question on how much stopovers spent in casinos was not included on VES questionnaire, only whether or not they gambled. The amount of win revenues reported to the Gaming Board by the Casino Operators on all islands of The Bahamas is used.

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Viewing these from what stopover visitors spent and where they spend it, once gambling is excluded (Figure 3), the breakdown shows that stopover visitors devote almost 60% of their travel budget on a place of stay. Once accommodations are taken care of the next most important category is, of course, money spent on eating in the hotel or at food outlets, restaurants and fast food vendors and the like off property. By island of stay, it is the Nassau/PI, Grand Bahama and Abaco economies that benefit the most from stopover spent.

Finally, as Figure 4 shows the Survey can be a rich source of data for marketing purposes.

FIGURE 4: AVERAGE EXPENDITURE PER VISITOR NIGHT FOR SELECT VISITOR PROFILES (EXCLUDES CASINO SPENDING)

Vacation Wedding etc. Business Casino0

$50

100

150

200

250

300

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Avg. Expenditure by Accommodation Type


The Government of The Bahamas extends a sincere "Thank You"to visitors who participate in the Visitor Expenditure Survey.



September 2009




September 2009

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2. THE VISITOR EXPENDITURE SURVEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

3. TOURISM ACTIVITY IN 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Table 1: Stopover Visitor Tourism Activity By Quarter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

4. PRESENTATION AND INTERPRETATION OF VES RESULTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44.1 Estimates and Averages in this Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44.2 Applying the VES Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54.3 Comparing the 2008 VES Results with Previous Years Estimates of Stopover Visitor Expenditures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

5. VES RESULTS FOR 2008 AT A GLANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Total Stopover Visitor Expenditures by

- Major Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8- Island . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Average Stopover Visitor Expenditures - Country of Visitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9- Trip Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9- Number of Previous Visits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9- Accommodation Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

6. VES RESULTS FOR 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106.1 All Stopover Visitor Expenditures by Major Group and Detailed Types for The Bahamas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Table 2: VES Survey Characteristics of All Respondents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Table 3: VES All Stopover Visitors Expenditures by Major Group . . . . . . . . . . . 10Table 4: VES All Stopover Visitors Expenditures by Island . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Table 5: VES All Stopover Visitors Expenditures on Accommodation byAccommodation Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Table 6: VES All Stopover Visitors Expenditures by Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Table 7: VES All Stopover Visitors Popular Purchases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Table 8: VES All Stopover Visitors Other Purchases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

6.2 Selected Type of Visitor Expenditures by Major Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Table 9: VES Visitation Characteristics and Estimated Average Expenditures

of Surveyed Stopover Visitors by Country of Residence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Table 10: VES Visitation Characteristics and Estimated Average Expenditures

of Surveyed Stopover Visitors by Primary Trip Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Table 11: VES Visitation Characteristics and Estimated Average Expenditures

of Surveyed Stopover Visitors by Number of Previous Visits . . . . . . . . . . . 19Table 12: VES Visitation Characteristics and Estimated Expenditures

of Stopover Visitors by Type of Not Owned Primary Accommodation . . 20Table 13: VES Visitation Characteristics and Estimated Expenditures

of Stopover Visitors by Type of Owned Primary Accommodation . . . . . . 21

APPENDIX : VES SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

1. The Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Department of Statistics. National Accounts Tables2006 . (Tables 86)2. The Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Department of Statistics. National Accounts Report2006 . (Analysis, vii)3. Not included in the VES survey are expenditures on international travel to / from TheBahamas, nor gambling. 4. All investment expenditures, e.g. real estate purchase, are excluded.

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Research and Statistics BranchThe Bahamas Ministry of Tourism

September 2009

The Government of The Bahamas extends a sincere "Thank You" tovisitors who participate in the Visitor Expenditure Survey.

1. INTRODUCTION

Tourism is a major force in The Bahamas' Economy. According to information compiled by theMinistry of Finance Department of Statistics, expenditures by visitors from other countries comprise 69% of The Bahamas’ export earnings and nearly 22% of direct expenditures in the Gross DomesticProduct 1. When the multiplier effect is taken into account, visitor expenditures underpin 51% of TheBahamas’ economy 2. In 2008 the Ministry of Tourism commenced the Visitor Expenditure Survey(VES) to reveal in detail the expenditures of stopover visitors to The Bahamas. Such a thoroughunderstanding of visitor expenditures is important for formulating Government tourism policies andprograms and for private sector tourism-related business planning. This Report describes the first-yearresults of the VES - The Bahamas Tourism Economy: 2008. The focus of this report is a detailedpresentation of visitor expenditures.

2. THE VISITOR EXPENDITURE SURVEY

The VES is an on-going exit survey of stopover visitors. Upon leaving The Bahamas a sample ofstopover visitors are asked to complete a comprehensive questionnaire recording their travel party expenditures while in the country 3. Stopover visitors, those spending at least one night in TheBahamas, make up the overwhelming portion of all visitor expenditures. The VES questionnaire coversall possible visitor consumption4 expenditures on accommodation, meals, transportation, activities, andother goods and services. Also recorded in the questionnaire are visitor characteristics of home country,

All investment expenditures, e.g. real estate purchase, are excluded.4.

One-hundred and thirty-seven questionnaires were not useable for some analyses, because5.

crucial information was lacking, e.g. number of nights stayed at an accommodation.

Early in the development of the VES questionnaire, field trails revealed that respondents were6.

reluctant to provide reliable information on their gambling winnings and losses.

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stopover visitor consumption expenditures on accommodation, meals, transportation, activities, and4

other goods and services. Also recorded in the questionnaire are stopover visitor characteristics of homecountry, number in the travel party by age group, number of times the respondent has been to theBahamas, and whether the stopover visit was inspired by a cruise ship visit. A copy of the questionnaire isappended to this Report.

During 2008, eight thousand ninety-eight travel parties responded to the survey, of which 7,961comprise the data base used for analyses , encompassing 21,085 visitors who spent 128,944 visitor nights5

during their stay. Visitor night is the economic measure of tourism activity, taking into account both thenumber of stopover visitors and their time spent in The Bahamas. This sample size is 1.4 % of allstopover visitors to The Bahamas, encompassing 1.3% of the visitor nights.

The VES questionnaire is self-completed by the respondents. This type of surveying has theinherent problem of how to interpret certain responses to various fields which are left blank in anotherwise completed questionnaire. Does a blank mean that a good, service, or activity was notconsumed? Or does a blank mean the amount spent was zero? When analyzing the survey responses theinterpretation is important for calculating averages and for combining the survey results with other data,such as immigration statistics, to expand the sample expenditure estimates for the entire population ofstopover visitors. The VES overcomes the ‘blank response’ problem with a three-pronged approach:

1. the questionnaire ‘asks’ both if a good or service was consumed and the amount of theexpenditure, if any.

2. where a good or service was consumed but the amount spent was not filled in, an extensiveseries of rules is applied to determine if a value of zero should be substituted for the blank.

3. where a good or service was consumed but not assumed to have zero expenditure, an averageper visitor night rate of expenditure is substituted for the blank. The average per visitor nightexpenditure is based on answers of survey respondents who provided relevant expenditureinformation. This process is called ‘imputing’.

Gambling winnings and losses were not surveyed in the VES, although the questionnaire asks if any member of the travel party gambled - with check boxes for ‘yes’ and ‘no’ for a response . Overall6

46% of the parties surveyed had at least one member who gambled. Information on gambling revenuessupplied by the Ministry of Tourism and the Gaming Board for the Commonwealth of The Bahamas,indicate casino revenue of $202.6 million in 2008 due to stopover visitors. In addition, stopover visitorsexpended $19.5 million in ‘dealer tokes’, a form of gratuity related to gambling activity.

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3. TOURISM ACTIVITY IN 2008

In 2008 stopover visitors spent $2.3 billionin The Bahamas. This includes casino and relatedrevenues.

According to immigration information onstopover visitors arriving to The Bahamas, tourismactivity in 2008 was below that in 2007. Table 1compares the number of stopover visitors andvisitor nights by quarter in 2007 and 2008. ‘Visitornights’ is the sum of nights stayed by all stopovervisitors entering The Bahamas (e.g. a visitorstaying 5 nights would represent 5 visitor nights).Although in the first quarter stopover visitors andvisitor nights were greater in 2008 than in 2007,by 3.4% and 2.3% respectively, in the followingquarters the numbers for 2008 were below theprevious year’s levels. For the year, the thenumber of stopover visitors was 4.2% lower in2008 than 2007 and the number of visitor nightswas 3.7% lower. (The smaller decline in thenumber of visitor nights means the drop instopover visitors was partially offset by theirlonger stays.) The downturn after the first quarterof 2008 reflects the onset of a world-widerecession late in 2007 and early 2008 whichsignificantly afflicted international travel marketsin most countries.

The VES results for 2008 in this report areannual. They relate to stopover visitors.Calculations based on the survey information,which does not include gambling, indicate anaverage per visitor night expenditure of $218during the year. Multiplying this average times theimmigration figure of 9,679,100 visitor nights,provides an estimate of total expenditure for allstopover visitors in 2008 of $2.1 billion. VESsurvey information is not available for 2007,therefore a comparable 2007 estimate of total

expenditures for all stopover visitors cannot be made. Given the higher number of visitor nights in 2007,however, all stopover visitor expenditures for The Bahamas would likely be approximately 4% greaterthan in 2008, disregarding possible effects of inflation.

Table 1: Stopover Visitor Tourism ActivityBy Quarter

Year 2007 2008

Quarter Thousands (1)

FirstStopover visitorsVisitor nights

400.62,758.5

414.22,822.2

SecondStopover visitorsVisitor nights

450.02,859.4

440.52,772.2

ThirdStopover visitorsVisitor nights

363.82,228.7

331.32,083.0

FourthStopover visitorsVisitor nights

313.32,207.5

277.02,001.6

AnnualStopover visitorsVisitor nights

1,527.810,054.1

1,463.09,679.1

VES Estimated All Stopover VisitorExpenditures (2)

n/a $2.1 billion

Casino Revenues fromStopover Visitors (3)

$236.8million

$222.1million

All Stopover VisitorExpenditures

n/a $2.3 billion

(1) Immigration data(2) Calculated, refer to text(3) Based on data compiled by the GamingBoard for the Commonwealth of The Bahamas,includes dealer tokes of $21.8 million in 2007and $19.5 million in 2008.

The all item difference is almost entirely due to a difference in accommodation cost, averaging7.

$119 per visitor night for the unweighted data and $130 per night for the island weighted estimatefor total stopover visitors.

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4. PRESENTATION AND INTERPRETATION OF VES RESULTS

4.1 Estimates and Averages in this Report

This Report presents the VES expenditure results in a several ways. Section 6.1 contains the allstopover visitor survey results where:

- expenditures by major groups and detailed accommodation type are presented as averages per(travel) party, average per visitor, average per visitor night, and total expenditures for TheBahamas.

. A party consists of a group of visitors (i.e. individuals), including adults and children,travelling together and sharing expenses. A survey response records the expenditures of allthe members of the party. The average party size encountered by the VES was 2.65visitors.

. Visitor nights shown in the VES results are comparable to those in the immigration data.In the VES visitor nights are calculated for each survey response by multiplying the partysize by the number of nights stayed by the party.

- expenditures by island show averages per party, average per visitor, average per visitor night,and total expenditures.

- expenditures on detailed activities, popular purchases, and other purchases are presented as totalamounts, and as percentages of parties in the VES making the respective expenditures.

There are two types of results in the All Stopover Visitor tables. In general, averages are based oncombined survey responses without any adjustment. Inherent in these averages is the potential for biasesthat may occur because of unrepresentative sampling of stopover visitors by islands of stay. Estimates oftotal expenditures, however, are weighted by island stayed according to the number of visitor nights byisland in the immigration statistics. The purpose of weighting is to offset any bias due to disproportionatesampling of islands. The possible extent of such a bias can be seen in Table 3, All Stopover VisitorExpenditures by Major Group, where the All Item per visitor night average expenditure is $207 whencalculated using the unadjusted survey data and $218 when calculated using the island weighted estimatefor total stopover visitor expenditures . Survey averages and estimated total expenditures by island, Table7

5, are implicitly self-weighted.

Section 6.2 presents major group expenditures for subgroups of stopover visitors and arepresented as average per party, average per visitor, and average per visitor night. These averages are notweighted to offset sampling variations by island stayed. The subgroups are by country of visitor, trippurpose, number of previous visits, and primary accommodation type. Estimates of total expenditures bysubgroup are omitted, as immigration data for visitor nights by subgroups are currently unavailable for

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weighting and calculating the total stopover visitor expansion factors.

Because of the increased chance for VES results to be unduly distorted by sampling error of anykind, no averages or estimates are shown in this Report which are based on fewer than 30 surveys.

4.2 Applying the VES Results

Depending on the uses of the expenditure information, some aspects of the results are moreapplicable than others. For national income accounting and examining economic impacts by sector andregion, the most relevant perspective is all stopover visitor expenditures. In this regard, the VES resultsrelate to total expenditures by type of good or service, and total expenditure by island. These estimatesare included in Tables 2 through 8.

For Government and business planning information, average party expenditure by subgroups maybe more useful, where it becomes evident which types of stopover visitors spend the most on variousgoods and services. Average expenditures are calculated per party, per visitor, and per visitor night. TheVES computer program, developed for this project, is able to tabulate (and cross tabulate) the surveyresults by country of visitor, trip purpose, number of previous visits, primary accommodation, andactivity participation.

Interpretation of the VES results for Government and private sector planning is complex, andwould stress different components depending on perspective and the level of current and anticipatedtourism activity. Also a consideration for public and private decisions are the factors of developmentaland operating costs, current capacity utilization of facilities, and market potential. Having dissimilarobjectives, Government and private sector decision-makers may consider the results of the VESsomewhat differently. For example, if the tourism sector is operating at or near full capacity, usuallydetermined by minimal accommodation vacancy, then:

- to maximize Gross Domestic Product the Government may wish to promote the kinds oftourism that provide the greatest expenditure per visitor night, with special consideration forthose sectors having strongest supply linkages with other areas of the economy. Although preciseinformation on linkages between tourism and The Bahamas economy is not currently available, itis reasonable to expect such linkages may be stronger for most activities, popular purchases forstraw market local handicrafts, transportation, and other non-accommodation services. Regardingtotal average expenditures per visitor night the VES provides the following insights:

. as seen on Table 9 there is not a large range in average visitor night expenditures forstopover visitors coming from different countries. The highest, however, is for Canadiansat $211 and the lowest is $193 stopover visitors from the United Kingdom.

. by trip purpose, Table 10, the highest average visitor night expenditures are fromstopover visitors getting married, on honeymoon, or attending a wedding. Their averagevisitor night expenditure is $310, compared to $200 for stopover visitors coming simplyfor a vacation.

The VES questionnaire, however, does not inquire comprehensively about stopover visitor8.

personal characteristics, nor does it ask about visitor satisfaction

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. up to a point, repeat stopover visitors maintain their average visitor night expenditureson subsequent visits, refer to Table 10. First time stopover visitors have an average visitornight expenditures of $209. This goes to $220, $213, and $215 for the second, third, andfourth visits respectively. Stopover visitors with more than four trips to The Bahamas tendto have a lower visitor night expenditure, decreasing to an average of $191, suggestingsaving costs by staying with friends and relatives or at their own part-time residence.

. according to accommodation type, Tables 12 and 13, the highest visitor nightexpenditures are by stopover visitors staying in hotels, at $255. The lowest visitor nightexpenditures are among those staying with friends and relatives, at $71.

An analysis of private sector decision-making based on VES results is beyond the scope of thisReport. Indeed there are many options which could be investigated depending on the nature of thebusiness. Suggested below are possible perspectives for interpreting VES results for private sectordecisions, utilizing custom produced VES reports:

- a private operator of accommodation services, such as a hotelier, may favour optionsmaximizing average expenditures on accommodation by party night, because hotel rooms aretypically sold to parties and on a per night basis.

- a restauranteur would want to maximize the number of visitor nights for people staying in hotels(where meals would not be visitor-prepared)

- an activity operator may want options maximizing the number of stopover visitors and theiraverage expenditures per party if the activity is a ‘do once’ type, for example a day or eveningcruise, or maximize average expenditure per visitor night if it is a ‘do daily’ type of activity suchas water sports.

If there is significant excess tourism capacity, with high accommodation vacancy rates,the likely goal of the Government and private sector would be to maximize the number of stopovervisitors of any kind. With notable excess capacity there is not a trade-off between types of stopovervisitors using the tourism resources.

4.3 Comparing the 2008 VES Results with Previous Years Estimates of Stopover VisitorExpenditures

The Ministry of Tourism routinely asked stopover visitors about their expenditures for many yearsas part of a broader survey including visitor satisfaction and personal characteristics. The relatively fewexpenditure questions in the previous survey’s questionnaire did not allow for estimates of detailedstopover visitor expenditures such as are available with the VES . Further, the VES methodology for8

collecting and processing expenditure information is more elaborate than used previously. Themethodological advantages of the VES include:

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- the focus and comprehensiveness of the VES questionnaire, explicitly covering all types ofconsumption expenditures

- the use of imputing to fill-in certain responses sometimes left blank in a completed questionnaire,as described in Section 2 of this Report.

- using visitor nights as the basis for measuring tourism activity, in conjunction with immigrationstatistics, to weight and extrapolate the survey results when estimating total expenditures.

Users of time series information on stopover visitor expenditures must be aware that from 2008onward the basis of measurement has changed. Compared to the previous survey, the methodology of theVES provides expenditure estimates that tend to be higher. An analysis of the previous survey’s results,which included gambling expenditures, for the first six months of 2007, and those of the VES for the firstsix months of 2008, augmented with Gambling Board figures on gambling expenditures, suggests that,all else being equal, the VES estimates of all-item total stopover visitor expenditures tend to be in therange of 20% higher.

5. VES RESULTS FOR 2008 AT A GLANCE

The graphs on the following two pages are based on the tables in Section 6.1 and 6.2. Theprevious discussion of the All Stopover Visitor and Averages tabular results also apply to thecorresponding graphs. The tables contain more information on the survey results and characteristics.

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2008 THE BAHAMAS VISITOR EXPENDITURE SURVEY AT A GLANCE

TOTAL STOPOVER VISITOR EXPENDITURES OF $2.110 BILLION (Not including $222.1 million gambling related expenditures)

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2008 THE BAHAMAS VISITOR EXPENDITURE SURVEY AT A GLANCE

AVERAGE STOPOVER VISITOR EXPENDITURES BY GROUP

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6. VES RESULTS FOR 2008

6.1 All Stopover Visitor Expenditures by Major Group and Detailed Types for The Bahamas

Table 2: VES Survey Characteristics of All Respondents

Survey Numbers and Visitation Averages

7,961 Parties (surveys)Averages per Party

21,085 StopoverVisitors2.65 visitors per party(party Size)

48,394 Party Nights6.08 nights per party(duration of Stay)

128,944 Visitor Nights16.20 per party (partyand size and nightscombined)

Table 3: VES All Stopover Visitors Expenditures by Major Group

Major Group Survey Average Expenditure Per: Estimated TotalExpenditures (2)

$million(per visitor night)

Party Party Night Visitor Night

ACCOMMODATION- Meal Plan- No Meal Plan (1)

$1,934$2,682

$1,508

$318$499$232

$119$192

$86

$1,256.8($130)

MEALS- Meal Plan- No Meal Plan (1)

***- At Accommodation (1)- Elsewhere

$574$385$682

***$356$218

$94$71

$105***$58$35

$35$27$39***$22$13

$340.2($35)

ACTIVITIES $256 $42 $15 $145.0($15)

POPULAR PURCHASES $213 $35 $13 $136.6($14)

OTHER PURCHASES $381 $62 $23 $231.3($24)

ALL ITEMS (3) $3,361 $552 $207 $2,110.0($218)

1. Includes all accommodation types even those that do not have a meal option. Refer to Tables 4, 12 and 13 for accommodation types.2. To estimate Total Expenditures, expenditures in the survey sample are weighted and expanded by immigration statistics on island visitor nights (refer to text). Per visitor night amount is calculated by dividing estimated total expenditures by total number of visitor nights in immigration statistics.3. All Items amount is greater than the sum of the major groups, because major groups cents are not shown.

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Table 4: VES All Stopover Visitors Expenditures by Island

Island Survey Average Expenditure Per: Estimated TotalExpenditures (1)

$million

(ImmigrationVisitor nights

thousands)

Party(number in

survey)

Party Night (number in

survey)

Visitor Night(number in

survey)

Nassau and Paradise $3,776(2,855)

$689(15,632)

$260(41,462)

$1,446.9(5,563.5)

Grand Bahamas $2,254(3,203)

$399(18,051)

$152(47,450)

$249.9(1,642.3)

Abaco $3,356(3,203)

$395(2,964)

$127(9,161)

$122.2(955.8)

Eleuthera $3,375(389)

$431(3,041)

$158(8,283)

$41.9(264.2)

Andros $5,646(350)

$939(2,104)

$364(5,424)

$29.1(79.9)

Bimini $3,016(119)

$511(702)

$169(2,113)

$54.8(322.5)

Exuma $4,606(744)

$742(4,615)

$285(11,992)

$77.4(270.7)

San Salvadore $4,543(69)

$525(597)

$217(1,439)

$34.8(159.7)

Harbour Island $2,54041

$381273

$157661

$12.0(76.4)

Other Islands (2) $2,290(37)

$255(332)

$119(711)

$41.0(344.0)

ALL ISLANDS (3) $3,661(7,961)

$552(48,394)

$207(128,944)

$2,110.0(9,679.1)

Note: ‘number in survey’ may not be proportional to number of all parties / visitors by island.

1. To estimate Total Expenditures, expenditures in the survey sample are expanded by immigration statistics on island visitor nights. 2. Includes ‘unidentified island’ in immigration data (57,200 visitor nights) and in survey sample (10 parties).3. The All Islands amount is greater than the sum of the islands, because cents are not shown for individual activities. Sum of ‘numbers in survey’ for parties is greater than number of surveys, because of parties staying at more than one island.

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Table 5: VES All Stopover Visitors Expenditures on Accommodation by Accommodation Type

Accommodation Type Survey Average Expenditure Per: Estimated TotalExpenditures (1)

$millionParty(number in

survey)

Party Night (number in

survey)

Visitor Night(number in

survey)

Hotel and TemporaryRented Villa Condominium /Timeshare / Unit inResidential Club

$2,134(6,317)

$430(31,326)

$159(84,363)

$1,119.1

Your Own Villa /Condominium

$1,408(336)

$172(2,748)

$64(7,371)

$29.9

Your Own Timeshare (oraffiliate)

$772(489)

$105(3,597)

$37(9,969)

$29.8

Your Own Residential Club $862(44)

$142(266)

$43(869)

$2.9

Temporary Rented House orApartment

$2,087(115)

$201(1,189)

$67(3,566)

$13.2

Your Own Private House $373(242)

$32(2,805)

$13(6,515)

$5.8

Friends or Relatives $105(287)

$12(2,514)

$6(4,742)

$2.6

Marina $1,882(274)

$178(2,883)

$60(8,533)

$45.7

Boat Offshore $1,052(43)

$89(506)

$26(1,720)

$4.6

All Others -(73)

-(470)

-(1,034)

$3.3

ALL ACCOMMODATION(2)

$1,934(7,978)

$318(48,394)

$119(128,944)

$1,256.8

Note: ‘number in survey’ may not be proportional to number of all parties / visitors by accommodation type.1. To estimate Total Expenditures, expenditures in the survey sample are weighted and expanded by immigration statistics on island visitor nights (refer to text). 2. All Accommodation amount is greater than the sum of the accommodation types, because cents are not shown for individual accommodation types. Sum of ‘numbers in survey’ by accommodation type for parties is greater than number of surveys, because of parties staying at more than one type of accommodation.

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Table 6: VES All Stopover Visitors Expenditures by Activity

Activities Percent ofParties inSurvey

Participating

Estimated TotalExpenditures (1)

$million

Nature and Sight Seeing Attractions, Historic Places,Sightseeing Tours

26% $18.5

Museums 3% $0.9

Movies, Theaters Concerts and Shows:- at any Hotel- Elsewhere

5%1%

$1.5$0.4

Other Entertainment:- at any Hotel- Elsewhere

9%5%

$19.1$4.9

Day or Evening Cruise 8% $8.1

SCUBA, Snorkel Diving 27% $31.3

Other water sports (e.g. water skiing, jet skiing, parasailing) 13% $10.1

Golf 6% $10.9

Fishing 11% $28.7

Sailing 4% $5.1

Other Sporting (e.g. horseback riding, tennis, racquetball) 7% $5.5

ALL ACTIVITIES - $145.0

Note: ‘number in survey’ may not be proportional to number of all parties participating in an activity.1. To estimate Total Expenditures, expenditures in the survey sample are weighted and expanded by immigration statistics on island visitor nights (refer to text). .

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Note: for Popular Purchases, shown in Table 7 below, the questionnaire asks for the amount ofthe purchase by location: ‘At Hotel’, ‘Away from Hotel (not straw market)’, and ‘Straw Market’. Table 7includes the percentage distribution of the amount of the expenditures on popular purchase made ‘AtHotel’ and “Away from Hotel’. The location ‘Away from Hotel’ in the table includes the straw market.

Table 7: VES All Stopover Visitors Popular Purchases

Popular Purchase Percent ofParties in

Survey withExpenditure

Percentage of AmountSpent by Location Estimated Total

Expenditures (1)$million

At Hotel AwayfromHotel

Straw Work (e.g. bags, purses, hats) 17% 19% 81% $8.1

Wood carvings 6% 12% 88% $1.7

T-shirts 41% 31% 69% $14.6

Other Clothes, Caps, Footwear 21% 24% 76% $15.1

Jewelry 25% 19% 81% $36.6

Perfumes, Cosmetics 6% 24% 76% $4.6

Photography Equipment 2% 27% 73% $1.1

China, Crystal 1% 39% 61% $0.7

Linen 2% 15% 85% $0.5

Luggage, Bags, Purses (not strawwork)

8% 28% 72% $7.9

Hair Braiding 4% 30% 70% $1.2

Other Local Handicrafts 7% 21% 69% $2.5

Other Souvenirs 21% 29% 71% $8.8

Tobacco 7% 29% 71% $3.4

Bottled Alcoholic Beverages 24% 19% 81% $14.3

Wedding Ceremony (may includemeals and beverages)

1% 52% 48% $15.5

ALL POPULAR PURCHASES - - - $136.6

Note: ‘number in survey’ may not be proportional to number of all parties making popular purchases.1. To estimate Total Expenditures, expenditures in the survey sample are weighted and expanded by immigration statistics on island visitor nights (refer to text).

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Table 8: VES All Stopover Visitors Other Purchases

Other Expenditure Types Percent ofParties in

Survey withExpenditure

Estimated Total Expenditures (1)

$million

TRANSPORTATION

Jitney, bus, taxi, or other passenger road transportation 72% $39.7

Automobile, motor scooter, bicycle rental 13% $16.9

Ferry, water taxi, and other passenger marine transportation 17% $4.3

Boat rental or charter 5% $17.5

Other Marina services (excluding mooring and docking) 2% $5.3

Inter-Island scheduled airlines 2% $4.7

Private airplane landing and parking services, excursions,charters

1% $9.7

RETAIL PURCHASES

Motor fuels and oil 12% $20.9

Medicines, toiletries, and personal items 15% $3.5

Groceries and household supplies 33% $33.3

Sporting goods and equipment 2% $1.1

Reading materials 5% $1.1

Tools, hardware, marine supplies, and automotive parts 2% $3.3

Furniture, housewares, appliances, electronic / computerequipment, and musical instruments

1% $1.6

Miscellaneous purchases (e.g. toys, postcards, film,stationery items, flowers, candy, etc.)

15% $3.8

Table 8 is continued on the next page.

Table 8: VES All Visitor Other PurchasesOther Expenditure Types Percent of

Parties inSurvey withExpenditure

Estimated Total Expenditures (1)

$million

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SERVICES

Telephone, telegram, Internet 22% $8.6

Repair or service of automobile, boat, and private aircraft 1% $3.7

Personal services (hairdresser, barber, massage, facial,manicure/pedicure, etc.)

8% $12.7

Laundry and valet services 4% $1.3

Education - tuition * *

Medical, dental, hospital services 1% $3.6

Banking services (fees only) 4% $0.6

Insurance services * *

Legal services * *

Miscellaneous services (e.g. movie rentals, postage, porters,etc.)

3% $1.0

Other expenditures and ‘Write in’ 3% $23.6

ALL OTHER EXPENDITURES - $231.3Note: ‘number in survey’ may not be proportional to number of all parties making other expenditures.* Fewer than 30 parties responded with expenditure amounts for this item, while not displayed in categorythey are still included in ALL OTHER EXPENDITURES total.1. To estimate Total Expenditures, expenditures in the survey sample are weighted and expanded by immigration statistics on island visitor nights (refer to text).

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6.2 Selected Type of Visitor Expenditures by Major Group

The following tables present the results of the VES by subgroup. Average expenditures are basedon survey responses without weighting for any disproportionate sampling by island stayed.

Table 9: VES Visitation Characteristics and Estimated Average Expendituresof Surveyed Stopover Visitors by Country of Residence

UnitedStates

Canada UnitedKingdom

All OtherCountries

AllCountries

No. of Parties in Survey 6,515 667 240 539 7,961

No, of Visitor Nights 98,856 13,996 6,140 9,952 128,944

Per Party

Avg. Party Size 2.68 2.59 2.50 2.45 2.65

Avg. No. Nights Stayed 5.60 7.96 10.37 7.64 6.08

Avg. No, of Visitor Nights 15.17 20.98 25.58 18.46 16.20

Estimated Expenditure by Major Group (1) Per Party and Per Visitor Night (second row)

Accommodation,May Include Meal Plan andBundled Activities

$1,801$118

$2,610$124

$3,031$118

$2,165$117

$1,934$119

Meals $557$36

$664$31

$742$29

$599$32

$574$35

Activities $265$17

$188$8

$350$13

$228$12

$256$15

Popular Purchases $191$12

$341$16

$275$10

$320$17

$213$13

Other Purchases $344$22

$628$29

$544$21

$544$29

$381$23

All Items (2) $3,159$208

$4,443$211

$4,944$193

$3,858$208

$3,361$207

1. Not adjusted for sampling variation by island.

2. All Items amount is greater than the sum of the major groups, because major groups cents are not shown.

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Table 10: VES Visitation Characteristics and Estimated Average Expendituresof Surveyed Stopover Visitors by Primary Trip Purpose

Vacation Wedding /Honeymoon

Business Casino All


No. of Visitor Nights 105,839 7,141 8,051 1,103 128,944

Per Party

Avg. Party Size 2.77 2.21 1.99 2.31 2.65


Avg. No. of Visitor Nights 16.84 11.54 13.58 10.61 16.20



$1,950$115

$2,168$187

$1,919$141

$1,643$154

$1,934$119

Meals $589$35

$447$38

$629$46

$561$52

$574$35

Activities $260$15

$178$15

$163$12

$332$31

$256$15


$543$47

$142$10

$261$24

$213$13


$241$20

$359$26

$358$33

$381$23

All Items (2) $3,374$200

$3,580$310

$3,214$236

$3,156$297

$3,361$207



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Table 11: VES Visitation Characteristics and Estimated Average Expendituresof Surveyed Stopover Visitors by Number of Previous Visits

One(first)

Two Three Four Five toTen

Morethan Ten

All

No. of Parties in Survey 3,548 1,477 821 468 1,058 553 7,961

No. of Visitor Nights 52,468 22,444 4,546 7,532 19,871 13,527 128,944

Per Party

Avg. Party Size 2.62 2.67 2.85 2.64 2.71 2.40 2.65

Avg. No. Nights Stayed 5.57 5.63 5.54 6.24 6.69 10.08 6.08

Avg. No. of Visitor Nights 14.64 15.20 15.96 16.09 18.78 24.46 16.20



$1,863$127

$2,043$134

$2,074$130

$1,964$122

$1,904$101

$1,839$75

$1,934$119

Meals $504$34

$577$37

$619$38

$635$39

$646$34

$774$31

$574$35

Activities $209$14

$246$16

$198$12

$276$17

$354$18

$495$20

$256$15


$184$12

$188$11

$231$14

$235$12

$362$14

$213$13


$298$19

$321$20

$354$22

$460$24

$1,203$49

$381$23

All Items (2) $3,062$209

$3,349$220

$3,402$213

$3,463$215

$3,601$191

$4,675$191

$3,361$207



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Table 12: VES Visitation Characteristics and Estimated Expenditures of Stopover Visitors by Type of Not Owned Primary Accommodation (1)

Hotel (2) RentedHouse /

Apartment

Marina Friends /Relatives

All ‘NotOwned’

(3)


No. of Visitor Nights 83,366 3,721 8,768 4,900 101,959

Avg. Party Size 2.64 3.19 2.92 2.00 2.63


Avg. No. of Visitor Nights 13.68 32.93 34.38 17.44 14.96



$2,186$159

$2,243$68

$2,105$61

$167$9

$2,099$140

Meals $604$44

$722$21

$829$24

$321$18

$593$39

Activities $238$17

$518$15

$282$8

$313$17

$250$16


$210$6

$455$13

$123$7

$213$14


$1,072$32

$1,589$46

$327$18

$320$21

All Items (5) $3,489$255

$4,767$144

$5,262$153

$1,253$71

$3,477$232

Note: ‘number in survey’ may not be proportional to number of all parties and visitors by primaryaccommodation.1. Primary accommodation refers to the type of accommodation where a travel party stayed the longest. Sometimes parties stay at more than one type and the expenditures for more than one type are reported within the primary type category.2. Hotel also includes Temporary Rented Villa Condominium / Timeshare / Unit in Residential Club.3. Also includes dormitory, Bahamas owned cruise ship and boat rentals, and Bone Fishing Lodge which each had fewer than 30 survey responses, and ‘Other’.4. Not adjusted for sampling variation by island.5. All Items amount is greater than the sum of the major groups, because major groups cents are not shown.

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Table 13: VES Visitation Characteristics and Estimated Expenditures of Stopover Visitors by Type of Owned Primary Accommodation (1)

Timeshare Condo /Villa

Own Pvt.House /

Apt.

BoatOffshore

Res. Club All ‘Owned’

No. of Parties in Survey 487 332 240 43 42 1,144

No. of Visitor Nights 10,172 7,407 6,573 1,846 867 26,865

Avg. Party Size 2.78 2.90 2.52 2.33 2.88 2.74

Avg. No. Nights Stayed 7.52 8.30 11.86 13.49 6.40 8.84

Avg. No. of Visitor Nights 20.89 22.31 27.39 42.93 20.64 23.48

Estimated Expenditure by Major Group Per Party and Per Visitor Night (second row)


$801$38

$1,440$64

$479$17

$1,352$31

$897$47

$949$40

Meals $553$26

$455$20

$598$21

$806$18

$551$26

$543$23

Activities $239$11

$273$12

$303$11

* * $282$12


$213$9

$232$8

* * $223$9


$910$40

$1,297$47

$821$19

* $772$32

All Items (3) $2,268$108

$3,293$147

$2,911$106

$4,041$94

$2,432$117

$2,771$118

Note: ‘number in survey’ may not be proportional to number of all parties and visitors by primaryaccommodation.* Fewer than 30 parties responded with expenditure amounts for this group.1. Primary accommodation refers to the type of accommodation where a travel party stayed the longest. Sometimes parties stay at more than one type and the expenditures for more than one type are reported within the primary type category.2. Not adjusted for sampling variation by island.3. All Items amount is greater than the sum of the major groups, because major groups cents are not shown.

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APPENDIX

VISITOR EXPENDITURE SURVEY

QUESTIONNAIRE

ver:56

the bahamas tourism economy: 2008€¦ · nassau/pi, grand bahama and abaco economies that benefit...

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