The Cayman Islands welcomed over 1.3 million visitors between January and June 2018, an increase of 19.52 percent or 214,711 visitors when compared to the same period in 2017. As if that’s not impressive enough on its own, Canada saw its 12th consecutive month of growth with an increase of 20.36 per cent.

Most countries these days seem to be growing their tourism by two to four per cent, so topping the 20 per cent mark is pretty astonishing, even on a relatively small base.

While overall air arrivals were up 15.9 percent for the first half of the year, demonstrating an increase of 34,693 visitors, cruise passenger arrivals accounted for 81 percent of the Islands’ total visitation.

This six-month performance comes on the heels of June’s record-breaking achievement as the best June on record for stayover visitation and marks the 15th consecutive month of growth in arrivals.

“I am very pleased that tourism performance in the Cayman Islands is registering consistent growth and continues to outpace projections,” said Deputy Premier and Minister for Tourism, the Honourable Moses Kirkconnell. “By applying the right marketing strategies, vision and spirit of collaboration to drive performance, the Cayman Islands tourism industry has maintained impressive, oftentimes, double-digit increases for a sustained period.

“This is helping to keep hospitality service workers employed throughout the summer and is also adding a significant boost to our Islands’ economy.”

Over the past six months, the Department of Tourism (DOT) has executed a multi-faceted marketing plan to increase brand awareness and flatten seasonality while also fostering opportunities for small businesses to play a part in the tourism product. In January, DOT launched its Summer Only in Cayman promotion, which this year leveraged Cayman’s position as the Culinary Capital of the Caribbean with our Kid’s Culinary Capital of the Caribbean promotion.

The promotion invited families to savour the endless array of cuisines available on-island by an impressive roster of local chefs and included curated epicurean experiences for even the youngest of authentic culinary seekers.

Cayman Islands’ tourism officials put on a culinary event in Toronto earlier this year.

IMAGE: Canadian visits to the Cayman Islands were up more than 20 per cent in the first six months of this year.

For more on this story go to: https://ca.travelpulse.com/news/destinations/canadian-visits-to-cayman-islands-up-twenty-per-cent.html