The Cayman Islands ended 2019 with record-breaking air arrivals, highlighting another year of steady growth in airlift and accommodations.

For the calendar year 2019, air arrivals reached 502,739 which represents an 8.6% increase over the same period in 2018—or 39,738 additional persons. This is the highest number of stayover visits in recorded history (surpassing January-December 2018).

 

Top Markets

Overall, the top source markets for stayover arrivals continued their impressive growth with an increase in arrivals from:

• 6 United States (33,293 more visitors than 2018)
• Canada (3,525 more visitors than 2018)
• United Kingdom (829 more visitors than 2018)

 

According to statistics provided by Cayman Airways, Cayman Brac arrivals—which includes both visitors and residents—were up seven%, approximately 4,350 more passengers in 2019 as compared to 2018 and totalled 62,911 passengers in 2019 – a new record for this route. For Little Cayman, there was also a new record in arrivals of visitors and residents, with 30,537 passengers – most arrivals ever.

 

The significant growth of visitation for all three islands maintained an upward trajectory over the past five years. In 2015 the destination welcomed 385,378 stayover visitors, and in 2019 there were 502,739 which equates to growth of 30.5 percent or 117,361 guests.

For the first time in Cayman’s history, three months in one calendar year peaked at over 50,000 stayover guests visiting Cayman’s shores—March, July, and December 2019. Overall, except for September 2019, the country broke previous arrival records for 11 months out of 12.

 

 

Reflecting on the positive impact that this growth in stayover arrivals has created, the Honourable Minister of Tourism Moses Kirkconnell shared:

 

“Since I began my duties as the Minister for Tourism, it has been my government’s intention that through tourism initiatives we would create positive impacts across all three islands that improve the lives of Caymanian families. We know that tourism provides many opportunities—from entrepreneurship to sharing of our culture—that empower our people to thrive professionally and personally. This has been our focus for the past five years and will continue to be a top priority for us going forward.”

 

Acknowledging the work of the Department of Tourism, Cayman Airways and the many tourism stakeholders, the Hon Minister said:

 

“A few years ago, my government and I challenged the Department of Tourism and our stakeholders to reach new markets and create growth opportunities for our tourism sector. The numbers speak for themselves—over 502,000 people chose our home—a humble three island trio with so much to offer—to make their dreams a reality by coming to the Cayman Islands. The Department of Tourism rose to that challenge through a variety of tactical and creative means, and we all should be proud of this amazing outcome.”

 

 

Support from the Airlines

Notable airline announcements in 2019 paved the way for a successful year and set the stage of increased accessibility for visitors in 2020. These include:

• Sunwing announced the launch of service into the Cayman Islands from Toronto, Canada for February 2020
• WestJet and Air Canada increased capacity for 2020
• National flag carrier Cayman Airways returned to Denver in December 2019 through August 2020 with twice weekly service
• American Airlines announced the additional seasonal service from Boston and new service from JFK in 2020
• British Airways introduced an extra flight on Tuesdays
• United Airlines transitioning their Newark route to daily service from December 2019 through April 2020
• Southwest added Baltimore seasonally, which launched in June 2019, increasing frequency in 2020
• Southwest moving their Houston service to start in March instead of late spring in 2020 and will progress to daily as of June 2020

 

Canadian Visitation Growth

Canadian visitation rose by 13.25% in 2019 with a total of 30,128 travellers arriving to the Cayman Islands. Equally impressive is that fact that 2019 saw nine months of record Canadian visitation from January through June and again from September through November.

 

“The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism and our island partners are elated to witness yet another year of record breaking growth in Canadian visitation to our very special trio of islands,” said Raymond Mathias, Business Development Manager for the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism. “We hope to continue this trend through 2020 as our destination is more accessible than ever thanks to 9 direct flights from Toronto a week this winter via our amazing partners, Air Canada, WestJet and a new flight from Sunwing.”

For more information and detailed arrival statistics, please visit visitcaymanislands.com

 

 

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