Who are they and where do they come from? (By VANESSA C. ROLLE Guardian Staff Reporter) Who are they?

The millions of foreign visitors who pay big bucks to spend a few days or weeks in The Bahamas each year. Most of us greet them warmly as if we've known them all our lives. And the billion and a half plus dollars they pour into our economy annually keeps our standard of living among the top three or four in the entire hemisphere. But do we really know who these people are ?

Well, turns out we do – kind of. And despite the sluggish American economy and threat of war with Iraq, tourism in The Bahamas actually grew a little last year – by 4.5 per cent to be exact, according to Ministry of Tourism statistics derived from immigration arrival cards.

Some 4.37 million people visited the country in 2002 according to the Central Bank – an all-time high. More than 70 per cent were from the United States, because we are so close and our product is so attractive to this huge market. We can be reached in less than an hour from eastern Florida and in just three hours from New York. In fact, the Bahamas is closer to California than Hawaii is.

Stopover visitors, those who stay in hotels for at least one night, are the majority of tourists in The Bahamas. And that's well and good because they are the ones that spend the most – about $1.48 billion in 2001 alone. But only 58 per cent say they will recommend The Bahamas to friends or relatives. And this is a critical number for Ministry of Tourism officials, since word-of-mouth advertising is the best advertising.

According to the government's exit study, most stopover visitors in 2001 came from the United States – about 1.3 million or 85.1 per cent. There were almost 80,000 Canadian stopover and more than 94,000 European stopovers. Other countries accounted for almost 56,000.

The exit survey shows that most of our stopover visitors come here on vacation, are mostly white, and come mainly for sand, sun and sea. About three per cent (or some 50,000 stopovers) are black, mostly African-Americans.

According to the survey, African-Americans spent slightly less than their white counterparts – an average of $739.67 per trip, compared to $964.80.

The report also noted that Grand Bahama, which is perceived by the typical stopover visitor to offer the best vacation value for the dollar, was also popular among African-American visitors.

But African-American visitors also indicated a higher degree of dissatisfaction with Bahamian attitudes (17 per cent), than the typical white stopover visitor (11 per cent).

Despite this, they also had a higher likelihood of returning to The Bahamas within one to five years than white stopovers.

Some 61 per cent of all stopover visitors to the Bahamas are college-educated. And three-quarters of them have household incomes of $60,000 a year or more. Forty-four per cent had incomes of $100,000 or more.

About 46 per cent of our stopovers are visiting for the first time, and 32 per cent say they were influenced by a previous cruise visit to make a land-based trip.

The most popular competing destinations for our tourists are Florida, (visited in the previous five years by 59 per cent of all visitors to The Bahamas), Mexico (visited by 39 per cent of our visitors), Cancun (chosen by 19 per cent), Europe (34 per cent), and Las Vegas (38 per cent).

Just over half the visitors surveyed thought The Bahamas was better than they expected. Only 10 per cent said it was not as good or worse than expected.

Most tourist spending goes to prepaid packages (33 per cent), accommodations (26 per cent), meals and drinks (14 per cent), casinos (11 per cent), shopping (three per cent), sporting activities (four per cent), local transportation (three per cent), and inter-island (one per cent).

Casinos and shopping are the top two attractions for stopover tourists, who buy souvenirs, handicrafts, cameras, perfumes, glassware, liquor and other gifts.

According to Tourism officials, a full report for 2002 will be available within a month.

The top six compliments cited for New Providence and Paradise Island in 2001 by 2,091 visitors surveyed were the Bahamian people, general comments, sightseeing and scenery, hotels, the weather and the beaches.

Price was the top complaint by tourists visiting Nassau, with poor attitudes ranking second.

According to the Central Bank figures for 2002, arrivals to New Providence, which account for 58.3 per cent of all visitors, fell by 2.1 per cent, while traffic to Grand Bahama and the Family Islands grew by 9.4 per cent and 66.3 per cent, respectively.

Total air arrivals were off slightly by 0.3 per cent to 335,829, while sea-visitor growth was up by 17.9 per cent to 702,379 .

Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe in his PLP Convention speech last November forecast an increase of three to five per cent in tourism arrivals during 2003.

The Bahamas continues to be a major regional player as a tourist destination, with its success very much dependent on the service given.

Map of New Providence