According to officials the latest numbers reveal that as of March 2010, sea arrivals are up from 44,256 visitors last year to 52,641 passengers this year, an increase of 18.9 percent.
Meanwhile, sea arrivals are up 19.5 percent for the first quarter of the year, representing almost instant cash into the economy.
According to Minister of Public Works and Transport, Neko Grant, this increase has had a positive impact on taxi drivers and tour operators increasing their revenue and has also provided an increase in business for store owners and straw vendors in the Port Lucaya Marketplace and in the International Bazaar.
The total arrivals for air and sea was 65,644 compared to 57,030 an increase of 15.1 percent, Grant said.
Director for Tourism in Grand Bahama, Karen Sey-mour told The Freeport News yesterday that these numbers have been boosted by the "Companion Fly Free" and the "Companion Sail Free" initiatives.
She noted that the cruise liners Discovery and newly introduced Celebration both saw an increase in passengers because of the plan. With three or more nights booked, on land cruise passengers were able to receive a two for the price of one special, Seymour explained adding that the majority of customers come from the East Coast which is the primary source market.
The numbers for air arrivals up until March could be attributed mainly to passengers who utilized the services of West Jet Service which began services to the island in November of last year.
Even with the increase in air arrivals, a second quarter audit may not show favourable numbers as Spirit Airlines discontinued its service between Fort Lauderdale and Freeport as of May 30, 2010.
Spirit had serviced that route since December 2007 and although initially offering daily flights, the carrier's schedule had over time been reduced to twice weekly.
The airline offered connecting service through Spirit's Fort Lauderdale hub from cities on its route network, including New York, Chicago, Atlantic City, Detroit, Washington DC, Boston, Orlando, Tampa as well as Los Angeles, Myrtle Beach and Atlanta.
It was rumoured that government was in negotiations to have this service returned to the island, however tourism officials told The Freeport News yesterday that this was not likely.
From the Our Lucaya Hotel had come the report that the resort was in discussions with Spirit Airlines to target sand and sun destination audiences in the United States that were popular in the past for visitors to the island, including North Carolina, Kentucky and Ohio.
Thus far the result of those negotiations has no been released by the hotel.
