Tourist Arrivals Remain Hot on the Cayman Islands

Following a rebound year for Caribbean travel with increased competition throughout the region, the Cayman Islands has maintained its market share with another year of record-breaking statistical arrivals.

At the close of 2018, total visitation surpassed all previous years of recorded visitation including 2006, which previously held the record for the highest number of total visitors in a calendar year.

Total arrivals for 2018 in both air and cruise visitation was 2,384,058, which is an 11.05 percent increase over the same period in 2017 (237,211 additional persons).  463,001 stayover visitors, an increase of 10.66 percent –an additional 44,598 visitors—over 2018, is a year of exciting ‘firsts’ for the destination:

The Cayman Islands welcomed over 450,000 stayover visitors for the first time. Arrivals in 2018 represent the highest number of stayover visits for a calendar year in recorded history (surpassing Jan-Dec 2017).

As a double accomplishment in ‘firsts’ over 50,000 stayover visitors travelled to the destination within a single month, happening twice in 2018: March and December.

This significant increase in visitation positively impacted the local economy with an uptick in visitor spend, increasing by US$98.1m over 2017.  The estimated total visitor spend in 2018 was US$880.1m, an increase of 12.5 percent.

In 2018, the USA, Canada, and LATAM had the most impact on arrival numbers.  Specifically, the countries with the largest impact on the overall performance in 2018 were:

The month of December is noted as the best on record, with a 6.15 percent increase of stayover arrivals with the destination receiving over 50,000 fuelled primarily by the North American markets.

As with the overall statistical increase, the USA had the largest impact in the month of December having grown by over 2,600 additional visitors.

This marks the 21st consecutive month of growth for this market which included an increase in capacity by national flag carrier Cayman Airways from JFK with daily flights in December 2018 compared to December 2017.

Canada saw a 3.30 percent growth making it the best December in statistical history for Canadian stayover visitation. Adding to the success of December’s record-breaking numbers, Latin America also increased by 3.32 percent and is now the best month in arrivals history for that region.

Source: Loop (Cayman Islands)