After a 16-month stretch of growth for tourist air arrivals in the Cayman Islands, September 2008’s air arrivals are down on the previous year.
Meanwhile, cruise arrivals for this past September were down just over half a percentage point on the previous September.
Air arrivals for September 2008, at 10,330, are down 9.8 per cent on the same month in 2007, which had 11,457.
In fact, since September 2005, a year on from when Hurricane Ivan damaged 90 per cent of buildings on Grand Cayman, this is only the second time that air arrivals have fallen from the same month the previous year.
Acting Director of Tourism Shomari Scott commented, ‘September and October are historically the very lowest visitor arrival months each year. This year was no exception with late August and early September being negatively impacted by a series of storms which triggered evacuations and the cancellation of trips.’
This is only the sixth highest September for air arrivals in the past nine years, with 2004 being the worst, when Hurricane Ivan hit, and 2000 being the best.
In the main markets for September 2008, air arrivals from the US fell by 14.7 per cent and the Canadian market fell by 11.8 per cent while the European market was up on the previous September by just 1.7 per cent.
For the year so far there have been 240,288 air arrivals, which is 8.8 per cent ahead of the previous year’s year-to-date figures.
For the year to date in the main markets, there have been 8.7 per cent more air arrivals this year from the US market, 7.4 per cent more from the European market while the Canadian market has grown by 14.2 per cent over the previous year.
Despite the recent weather-related challenges and the economic challenges, the private sector has reported that in the short-term there is a positive outlook for the upcoming winter, said Mr. Scott.
‘However, no one is immune to cancellations due to economic uncertainty and all partners are focused not just on growing business but for the first time on also keeping the business currently on our books. This may be the greatest challenge facing the travel industry worldwide,’ he said.
‘The Cayman Islands’ public and private sectors’ co-operation, research, partnerships at home and overseas, customer service training, emphasis on providing great value for money, targeted marketing campaigns, and increased attention to secondary markets in the UK and Canada have greatly aided the jurisdiction to date. These factors also have the destination well poised to tackle the real challenges ahead.’
Cruise arrivals for September 2008, at 69,372, were 430 visitors down on the previous September.
In the past nine years this is only the fifth highest September figure for cruise arrivals, with the year 2000 the poorest performer and 2005 the best.
Following strong general growth, cruise tourism began to decline in early 2007 as new markets opened up in other regions.
For the year to date cruise arrivals have fallen by 11.7 per cent.
Related Videos
