Many businesses in the Cayman Islands tourism sector are reporting a decline in business compared to last year, according to outgoing Cayman Islands Tourism Association President Troy Leacock.
“After a strong start to our high season, by May members started to report a slowdown in bookings right up to an even slower-than-usual September and October,” he said. “And for the upcoming high season, many are still reporting advance bookings down on last year.”
During his speech at the CITA annual general meeting, Leacock offered theories about why this might be occurring, especially in the critically important stayover visitor sector.
“Is it simply the lull after two years of revenge travel? Did our extended COVID closure drive some of our repeat visitors to now vacation on other islands? Perhaps some sectors are experiencing the impact of increased capacity and competition,” he said.
While conceding that weather events like Hurricane Beryl in July may have resulted in some cancellations, the sentiments from the outgoing president contrasted with the more optimistic tone delivered by representatives of the Department of Tourism at the AGM.
They pointed to record-breaking government revenues from stayover visitors so far this year, along with statistics showing that stayover visitors, at 330,514, were the third highest, year over year, in recorded history, and up 2.3% from the same period in 2023.
That increase in stayover visitors was buoyed by a strong performance in March, up 23% at more than 57,000 people. The increase was tempered, however, by a three-month decline, with stayover visitors down 13.7% in July, 1.2% in August and 9.6% in September.
Government enjoyed higher revenue from the sector largely due to the increase in average daily room rates, up over 11% compared to the same time period in 2023.
In order to gain a clearer understanding of what is happening in the tourism industry, Leacock explained that the tourism association would be embarking on a new initiative he described as a “business intelligence dashboard”. He said this would help members understand what is happening in each sector in the tourism industry and even in the wider region.
“In order to successfully manage our businesses and plan for the future, we need to understand the trends and business drivers in our respective sectors and our tourism industry as a whole,” Leacock said.
He added, “The business intelligence dashboard … will provide our members with the vital and valuable trend and business information we need.”
The concept of the dashboard is to securely gather and analyse sector data from their own members in CITA, along with national data from the Department of Tourism, regional information from agents like Expedia and Airbnb, and customer spend data from Mastercard.
“This near real-time business intelligence can then be easily accessible to our members through a secure, web-based dashboard,” Leacock explained.
What the stats say
Vacation rentals by owner and Airbnb rooms from January to September are showing a 56% total occupancy rate, up 1% from the same period in 2023, with a total of 5,300 rooms available.
There are also 23 hotels in the Cayman Islands with a combined total of just over 2,800 rooms. Overall, the hotels are showing a 58.8% total occupancy rate for January to September, which is down 8.6% for the same period in 2023.
The Department of Tourism stated that new developments, including the Grand Hyatt, will increase available room stock by more than 500 rooms in Cayman in 2025, with additional rooms also coming online in 2026.
Bryan: ‘No cause for concern’
On the subject of stayover visitors, Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan, speaking at the meeting, said, “During the month of September, air arrivals registered a decline, which can be attributed to airport closures, cancellations and business interruption due to hurricanes and tropical storms, but aside from that, guest arrivals have shown no cause for concern.”
He added that several major airlines have already committed to expanding the frequency of flights from various locations to the Cayman Islands.
The proposed runway extension will also increase the existing runway by 1,115 feet. He said this would enhance the airport’s ability to service longer-haul flights, “making the Cayman Islands accessible to direct routes from new markets”.
He added, “I am excited by what these enhancements will mean for our destination, in terms of growing our tourism sector and strengthening our competitiveness on a global scale.”
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