The pink sand beaches. The historic hotels. The golf. Cooper’s Island. The pastel buildings in Hamilton. The scooters. Bermuda is a vibrant, unique island with a dynamic culture – and it’s more popular than ever.
It’s been a strong start to the year for tourism on the island of Bermuda, with arrivals surging compared to 2024, according to Tourism Minister Owen Darrell, who spoke to Caribbean Journal in an interview during the Seatrade Cruise Global conference in Miami Beach this week.
Leisure arrivals are up 20 percent compared to where they were last year,” Darrell said.
“It’s a really strong start [to 2025],” he said. “We’re very optimistic as to what’s going to happen for the rest of this year.”
The surge in tourism comes amid a new energy for the island’s tourism sector, buoyed by the imminent relaunch of the iconic Hamilton Princess resort, which got a major boost in investment from the island’s government and is completing a significant upgrade to 113 rooms in its Bermudiana wing.
That’s along with the island’s other Fairmont-branded resort, the Fairmont Southampton, which has been shuttered since 2020 and Is now set for a major reopening next year.
Bermuda is also getting a lift from the continued growth of upstart carrier Bermudair, which has been rapidly expanding to cities across the eastern seaboard, adding new routes and new connections for the island.
The boutique-style Bermudair, which just launched operations in 2023, now flies to Bermuda from cities like Fort Lauderdale, Boston, Richmond and even several cities in Canada. The latter is a market of particular interest for Bermuda, Darrell said, with tourism officials recently holding an event on Opening Day for the Toronto Blue Jays.
On the cruise side, Bermuda is seeing an increase in arrivals for the first part of the year, but the big four is on improving infrastructure and experiences.
“Once people come to our destination, we want to really give them something,” he said. “Gone are the days days where people are only going for a beach. Cruise passagers — and air visitors, too — seek cultural connections. They want to see the food and wine and the people and how we interact.”
That comes from a focus on storytelling, he said.
“We’re trying to get people and and tell the story of Bermuda,” Darrell said. “We’re going to be celebrating the heritage and the everyday magic that makes us unique.”
