Cruise visitors to Cayman dwindled by nearly 13,000 passengers in October this year compared to the same month in 2009.
According to visitor statistics released by the Department of Tourism, 85,679 people came by cruise to Cayman, while 98,610 visited in October 2009. That’s the worst performance since October, 2005, when 65,651 came by cruise ship in a month that was significantly affected by Hurricane Wilma. The 2010 season did affect the numbers slightly, explained Joseph Woods, manager of Cruise Operations & Security for the Port Authority of the Cayman Islands.
“We only lost two calls this October; one to weather and the other to the vessel experiencing mechanical difficulties and having to cancel its call. We therefore ended the month with 33 calls from 16 ships, whereas in 2009, we had 35 calls from 15 ships and no missed calls.” The stricken ship this year was the 2,642-passenger Carnival Destiny. Hurricane Paula dictated that the 3,634-capacity Freedom of the Seas could not come to Cayman on Thursday, 7 October. Bad weather on Wednesday and Thursday of that week also forced several ships to divert to the Spotts Bay alternative docking site instead.
Harry Lalli of the Cayman Islands Tourism Association added that weather can affect cruise numbers on a positive or negative basis, particularly during the hurricane season.
“I do know that cruise liners are all showing very positive advance bookings this year,” he revealed.
Air up slightly
Air arrivals were marginally up compared to 2010, with 13,796 arriving as compared to 13,018 in October 2009. These figures compare unfavourably with the three preceding years, all of which showed arrivals of over 14,000 or more.
According to the tourism department’s statistics, the United States continued to be the largest tourist source, with 10,610 arrivals. The largest source market was the northeast, with 3,680 recorded tourists, and the biggest increase was in visitors from the West Coast, which numbered 883 compared to the 712 recorded in 2009. Although 685 arrived from Canada, this amount is expected to increase due to the additional flights between Grand Cayman and Toronto on the WestJet service that began in November, adding three flights a week to the existing service on Air Canada.
Europe provided 1,252 visitors to Cayman during the month.
The Cayman Islands Immigration Department counts every visitor as a tourist arrival for the purposes of its statistics.
Mr. Lalli said increases in air passenger capacity are welcomed by the tourism industry.
“Any airlift, and particularly direct flights like WestJet, can only do us good and I’m hoping that we will see a real positive impact [through November]. The fact that the Canadian dollar is strong makes [a big difference]. There was a time when [because of exchange rates] they’d lose 40 to 45 per cent before they set foot on the Island but the strong Canadian dollar should really help bring down some of the Canadian tourism,” he said.
Estimated hotel occupancy in October, 2010, was 62.4 per cent, compared to 36.4 per cent in 2009. All other accommodation including condos, apartments and villas, was recorded as having a 39 per cent occupancy. Hotels have reported that room rates have been slashed over the last 18 months in order to stimulate demand.
Worldwide increases
On a worldwide basis, there has been an increase of 10.1 per cent in passenger demand and 14.4 per cent increase for freight internationally, according to the International Air Transport Association.
Director General and Chief Executive Officer Giovanni Bisignani said that the figures nonetheless did not point to a consistent trend.
“As we approach the end of 2010, growth is returning to a more normal pattern. Passenger demand is 5 per cent above pre-crisis levels of early 2008, while freight is 1 per cent above.
“Where we go from here is dependent on developments in the global economy.
The US is spending more to boost its economy. Asia outside of Japan is barrelling forward with high-speed growth. And Europe is tightening its belt as its currency crisis continues. The picture going forward is anything but clear, but for the time being, the recovery seems to be strengthening,” he said.
North America posted 12.4 per cent demand increase over October 2009. October represented the fastest growth rate for the year. With a capacity increase of 11.9 per cent, the load factor for North American airlines was pushed to 82.5 per cent, the highest among all regions.
Compared to pre-recession levels of early 2008, the region’s airlines are carrying 2 per cent more traffic. Generally, passenger demand has risen but capacity has not been expanded at the same rate, with analysts noting that this trend looked likely to continue going forward. Freight volumes had declined since May, 2010 by 5 per cent but this stabilised during October with a small uptick, said Mr. Bisignani, who explained that things had been better than anticipated this year.
“We are ending 2010 in much better shape than we were just 12 months ago. Airlines have turned losses into profit—albeit tiny. Despite the economic uncertainties people continue to fly.
“Airlines appear to be managing capacity in the upturn with a good deal of prudence. And cost control continues to be a main theme for airlines everywhere.”
Related Videos
