Bermuda Seeks to Leverage Charms for Growth

Bermuda has long held a special place in the hearts of East Coast travelers due to its singular charms. Its beautiful beaches and lush landscapes frame an enchanting mix of history and culture.

An archipelago composed of 181 islands, Bermuda’s tropical climate is characterized by warm winters and hot summers. Settled in the 17^th century by England, the country remains an overseas British territory.

Many of Bermuda's hotels are located along the island’s south shore. The historic town of St. George's is a designated World Heritage Site. Scuba divers can explore a number of wrecks and coral reefs in relatively shallow water with virtually unlimited visibility. A number of nearby reefs are readily accessible from shore by snorkellers, especially at Church Bay.

Bermuda's most popular visitor attraction is the Royal Naval Dockyard, which is at the center of the island’s cruise activity and includes the National Museum of Bermuda. Other attractions include the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo, Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, and the Crystal Caves with stalactites and underground saltwater pools.

Tying these elements together is the friendly, outgoing nature of Bermuda’s people. Minister of Tourism Owen Darrell shared some insights on Bermuda tourism. 

TravelPulse: How has tourism in Bermuda fared in 2025 versus 2024?

Owen Darrell (OD): We’re continuing to see steady growth and that’s a good thing in this industry. When things are going on an upward trajectory, you're happy and you feel that you know people are definitely taking to your destination and taking to your jurisdiction. Year over year from the first quarter of this year we saw a 10.6, almost 11 percent increase in leisure arrivals and our high season continues to remain strong, also showing a marked increase in leisure arrivals compared to last year. So we're going the right way.

We're seeing significant increase in the leisure visits from the Canadian markets. Our team has done quite a bit of marketing in the Canadian area and we've got increased airlift that is coming out of Toronto Montreal as well as Halifax [with] multiple carriers. So we're very happy to see that the travelers in those markets are seeking new destinations and they're choosing Bermuda.

Also destination weddings are a big part of tourism and we're seeing a 20% increase in 2025 in destination wedding arrivals. As you know Bermuda has some of the most beautiful vistas and beautiful resorts and we are renowned for our wedding planning services. Historically Bermuda has always been a very popular honeymoon destination especially back in the 60s and 70s and we're starting to see a return of that market. Some 50 years later you’re starting to see some of your parents’ friends and individuals of that age coming back for 50 and 60-year anniversaries. So it's doing quite well.  

TravelPulse: What initiatives have you implemented to support tourism to Bermuda?

OD: This past year as always we're continuing with our world class events  A month from now on November 13th to the 16th is the Butterfield Bermuda championship and that is part of the PGA Tour. We're looking forward to 2026 which is shaping up to be a massive year as far as events that are in Bermuda. People can come for sporting events and entertainment events. We're gonna see the 54th running of the Newport to Bermuda yacht race and we also have confirmed that Bermuda will be hosting on May 9th to 10th the SailGP as well as some of the classic big game fishing tournaments. So we hope to see increased visitors there. 

TravelPulse: What is the state of airlift into Bermuda? 

OD: We have a hotel that is reopening with almost 600 rooms that we put back into our tourism inventory so the Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA) is continuing to work closely with carriers such as Bermudair and others to make sure that airlift is supported in bringing tourists to the island in 2026.

Airlift has increased slightly in Bermuda in 2025 based on 2024. We have a revised air service development committee which is actively going out and speaking to the carriers to continue their direct flights. We've got Delta, JetBlue, American Airlines United and Air Canada as well as British Airways that offer nonstop direct flights to Bermuda. Bermudair is has increased their airlift especially in the Canadian destinations I mentioned before. They are flying flights out of Toronto, out of Montreal as well as Halifax.

Just recently Bermudair announced that they are expanding their services to cities such as Hartford and Richmond and just yesterday they announced that they are going to expand their network by having direct flights out of LaGuardia and Newark. Bermuda’s U.S. service development committee is anticipating increased arrivals based on the increased hotel inventory for 2026 so our air service development and airlift is going to be a huge feature of our 2026 tourism season. 

TravelPulse: How has the cruise segment fared in 2025? 

OD: The cruise industry in Bermuda is holding steady. We see a very small increase over 2024 numbers, however when you get into this part of the season you know due to hurricanes and other weather-related events every once in a while we know in all jurisdictions that sometimes cruise ships have to divert diverse to different locations. So in some areas we'll see the cruise ship numbers below where they were last year, but overall they're continuing to hold steady. 

TravelPulse: What are the outstanding land-based developments in Bermuda in 2025?

OD: The Fairmont Southampton has announced that they will reopen their 600-room hotel after undergoing a significant $550 million renovation. This will include a stunning beach club that is now being upgraded; it's going to be one of the best beach clubs in the world and the hotel is going to have full modern amenities overlooking the beach. Since earlier this year the government has continued to invest in tourism investment orders which provides concessions to investors that wish to invest in new hotel properties.

Earlier this year we saw the opening of the Hillcrest boutique hotel and that's in the heart of Saint George’s. We also invested in a tourism investment order for the Hamilton Princess which invested in a $15 million project to renovate one of their hotel wings. We've also just announced that we will be supporting the redevelopment of the former Elbow Beach resort and they're going be gearing up in 2026 for a full transformation of that property. So we are very happy with the investments that the government is making so that we can continue to modernize and expand the offerings in Bermuda and overall for tourism in this jurisdiction.

TravelPulse: Is transportation around the island improved?

OD: Historically Bermuda did not rent vehicles to tourists that came, the only transportation that you could get was public transportation, whether it be buses or ferries. In the 70s and 80s Bermuda was the jurisdiction where you would rent a moped. But I'm happy to report that now there are new offerings where tourists can rent two-seat electric vehicles. There are companies like Bermuda Car Rental that offer small rental vehicles and cars for tourists that come to the island.

When it comes to public transportation we are now offering apps for tourists and travelers where you can actually track public transportation and you can actually pay for it through the app. So I'm happy to report that transportation issues that may have been reported by visitors before have been addressed. We are seeing that visitors to Bermuda are happy with these improvements and with the use of technology. transportation is becoming more readily available with more options for tourists that come to Bermuda.

TravelPulse: What are your goals for Bermuda tourism?

OD: To start we will continue to invest in the growing super yacht sector. We've seen increases in super yachts coming to the island. We're going to focus on sports tourism in 2026 as I mentioned before we've got the Newport terminal race coming up and we've got the SailGP. We're going to continue with our expanded agreement with the PGA for the golf tournament here in January. Visitors that like running events can come for the Triangle Challenge and of course at the end of July we hold our annual cup match which is a cricket match that’s held every year.

We're starting to see more and more international visitors are coming to take part in our sports to get part of our culture. Our goal is to continue to showcase the diverse rich culture that Bermuda has and we're going to leverage this with telling the stories of our people and what culture cuisine and history means to them so that tourists to the island can come and tap into that history and that cultural kind of significance that Bermuda holds. 

TravelPulse: What is the profile of the contemporary Bermuda traveler?

OD: Absolutely we're starting to see that profile shift though you know as I said before most of our visitors that came were repeat visitors that first came in the 60s or 70s. Now we're seeing a strong momentum in the Canadian market. Canadian market visitors are up 31% and we've made a series of social media travel trade events to bolster our  presence in the market of Canada. We're starting to see that there's momentum coming from different areas.

Traditionally Bermuda always kind of saw the East Coast northeast corridor visitors coming and we're starting to see it kind of increase and expand a bit due to some of the activations that we're doing so we're happy that it's not just contained to one segment or one group or one region. We're starting to kind of expand it on and people are starting to realize and recognize that Bermuda is actually closer than they think and we're happy that 2026 is shaping up to be a big year.

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