Cruise passenger arrivals to the Cayman Islands plunged to their lowest October level since record-keeping began in the year 2000 – with the exceptions of 2004, 2020 and 2021 when there were no cruise passenger arrivals due to either Hurricane Ivan or the COVID-19 pandemic.
Newly released figures from the Department of Tourism show that just 39,357 cruise passengers arrived in October 2025.
The October total was not only far below pre-pandemic norms, when arrivals routinely ranged between 80,000 and 150,000, but also well under the previous October low of 48,603 passengers recorded in 2011, when Hurricane Rina forced widespread itinerary changes in the region. This year’s numbers mark the first time October cruise passenger arrivals have fallen below 40,000 in a year when there were any at all.
Weather also played a role. Hurricane Melissa disrupted itineraries late in the month, leading to multiple cancellations and reroutes. In total, only 13 cruise ships visited Cayman in October 2025, down from 20 in October 2024.
October’s decline capped a volatile year for cruise tourism. While the year began strongly, with January, February and March posting gains – including a sharp jump in February – momentum faded as the year progressed. April, May and June each recorded double-digit declines, August saw a near 25% drop and October fell almost 30% compared with the same month last year. Through October, cruise arrivals were down 3.8% year-to-date.
Stayover tourism tells a different story
In contrast, stayover tourism has remained comparatively steady, helping to cushion the overall impact of the cruise slowdown.
October 2025 was the ninth strongest October on record for stayover arrivals, despite the month traditionally being one of the slowest of the year. A total of 20,072 visitors arrived by air in October, up sharply from 12,929 in September and well above the long-term October average of 15,910 since 2000.
Through October, Cayman recorded 358,457 stayover visitors, slightly higher than the same point in 2024 and ahead of 2023, though still below the record levels of 2019. Strong performance in the first half of the year has been key with growth recorded from January thru April.
While arrivals softened later in the year – with declines in May, June, August, September and October – year-to-date stayover visitation remains up 2.1% compared with 2024.
The United States continues to dominate as Cayman’s primary source market, accounting for roughly 83% of all stayover visitors and posting modest growth. Canada and the UK also recorded gains, while several smaller markets, including Bermuda, the Bahamas and Colombia, saw sharp percentage increases. At the same time, traditional European markets such as Germany, Italy, France and Spain posted double-digit declines.
A widening gap between cruise and stayover
Taken together, the data points to a widening divergence between Cayman’s two tourism pillars. Overall visitation to the islands fell 2.1% year-to-date through October 2025, as gains in stayover arrivals were more than offset by weakness in the cruise sector. With cruise passengers still making up the largest share of total arrivals, sustained declines in ship calls continue to drag on the numbers.
Looking to the end of the year, matching the stayover strength of 2019 – a record year that closed with more than half a million air arrivals – appears out of reach. To equal that performance, Cayman would need an additional 144,282 stayover visitors in November and December combined.
Based on current trends, such an outcome is highly unlikely, leaving 2025 on track to close with a mixed picture: resilient overnight tourism alongside one of the weakest years on record for cruise visitation.
Medium-term forecasts remain broadly optimistic for Cayman’s tourism outlook, particularly on the stayover side. According to BMI’s Caribbean Tourism Report Q3 2025, published by Fitch Solutions, visitor arrivals to the Cayman Islands are projected to grow by an average of 6.4% annually between 2025 and 2029, one of the strongest sustained growth rates in the region.
Central to growth will be the Department of Tourism’s global “Welcome to vaCay” campaign, launched to reposition the islands as a premium, warm-weather escape – a counterpoint to stressful, over-programmed travel, centred on genuine relaxation, cultural depth and an unforced sense of luxury.
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I can’t remember what I had for breakfast yesterday but I have an almost photographic long term memory. I remember landing in Maui with my parents in the early 80’s. We exited from an air-stair, arrived in thatch-tent buildings and people handled luggage by hand. My parents rented a brand new ford fairmont that smelled like new car and tourist sunscreen. They were paving the runway extension at the time. Adding to its length. When we came back a decade later there were bigger airplanes, terminals, bigger fuel facilities, jetways. It was a transformation that began with the longer runway.
In Cayman, we don’t know with certainty where the overnight visitors of the future will fly here from. But we won’t get a chance to welcome the surprises as long as a faceless 35 year old route planning executive in an airline’s corporate office sees we can’t tick the box on handling Code-E planes.
Let’s get building that runway extension ASAP so we have options to grow the pie and welcome visitors from elsewhere in future.
It’s a lot easier to blame the cruise industry rather than the crime on tourists. The latest tourist attacks are all over travel online sites. Couple this with the highest premium tourists pay in the carribean and it’s easy to see why the Caymans are being replaced.