Cayman Arrivals Continue to Grow

One year after posting a double-digit percentage increase in land-based arrivals, the Cayman Islands posted first-half 2015 arrivals totals that were only slightly ahead of 2014, based on data issued this week by Cayman Islands Department of Tourism (CIDOT).

The Cayman Islands’ 213,495 land-based arrivals in the first half of 2015 were up only 1.4 percent compared with the same period in 2014, during which the destination hosted 210,491 overnight arrivals. Overnight arrivals showed greater improvement in June, as the 32,573 visitors recorded that month represented the destination’s second-highest June visitation since 2000, said CDIOT officials.

Meanwhile cruise ship visits to the Cayman Islands during the first six months of 2015 climbed 5.5 percent to 908,881 visitors, up from 861,517 in 2014. CIDOT officials added that June cruise-ship visitors surged by 9.2 percent in June 2015 compared with the same month one year earlier.

Ironically, the higher cruise arrivals come as Cayman Islands residents debate a government proposal to build a $150 million cruise ship port. The facility’s construction has divided stakeholders into distinct groups. Opponents point to significant negative impacts the project would have on the natural environment in the harbor of George Town, the Cayman capital, where the facility would be built.

Source: https://www.travelpulse.com/