Bahamas is hotter than ever. No, we’re not talking about the weather. The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism & Aviation reported historic visitor numbers for 2018 and 2019, according to Travel Pulse.

After the devastation of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, islands in the Caribbean, including the Bahamas, had to rebuild as tourists seemed to stay away shortly after the devastation. Many islands rely on the tourism and hospitality industries to support their economies, so bouncing back quickly was paramount to their survival.

Luckily, tourists didn’t stay away for too long. As previously reported by Travel + Leisure, bookings for between Dec. 22, 2018 and Jan. 3, 2019 were up by eight percent, and business between January and February 2019 was up by 21 percent compared to the same time in 2018.

TravelPulse reported that air capacity grew by 20 percent in January 2019 and 21 percent in February 2019. In addition, the record number of arrivals grew by 15 percent in January 2019 and 11.1 percent in February 2019 compared to 2018, according to data collected by ForwardKeys.

Cruise arrivals saw a dramatic increase as well, according to the South Florida Caribbean News. Both air and sea arrivals totaled more than 6.6 million visitors in 2018, compared to 6.1 million in 2017. But perhaps the biggest jump was in room revenues, which spiked at a 34 percent increase in the last year – the highest its been in 10 years, according to Travel Pulse.

The increase in arrivals may be thanks, in part, to the Bahamas tourism campaign featuring Lenny Kravitz. The Bahamian-American rock star appeared in a marketing campaign encouraging tourists to “Fly Away” (get it?) to the Bahamas on their next trip.

Last year proved to be an important time to book a trip to the Bahamas, and it paid off. The Ministry intends to continue on this upward trend as well, according to Travel Pulse.

“We look forward to building upon the success of our progressive plans and continuing the momentum in 2019 as we forge ahead with exciting new initiatives,” said Minister D’Aguilar in a statement.

Source: Travel + Leisure