It was another year of positive growth for the Cayman Islands last year, buoyed by a surging month of December, Caribbean Journal has learned.
The destination reported 437,842 stayover visitors in 2023, a 2 percent increase over 2023.
That included the second-strongest December ever for the destination, with 52,046 visitors last month.
That was accompanied by an 8 percent increase in tourism tax and fee revenues, driven by a 9 percent increase in average daily room rates.
It was a strong year particularly considering the challenges of last summer’s active storm season.
“It was gratifying to see such positive growth in our stayover visitation numbers for 2024. Despite our strong results, globally the tourism sector faces economic, geopolitical and climate challenges,” Cayman Islands Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan said in a statement provided to Caribbean Journal. “As an industry, locally we are not immune to these global shocks. We weathered a challenging hurricane season which saw the closure of Owen Roberts International Airport due to hurricane Beryl during one of our busiest travel periods in July.”
The destination saw 1.4 percent growth in tourism from the US and a number of monthly records for the Canadian market, which posted its second-best-ever performance.
“2024 was a standout year for the destination not only from a visitation perspective, but also for our business development and marketing efforts,” said Mrs. Rosa Harris, Director of Tourism.
Are you planning a vacation to the Cayman Islands? Grand Cayman, the destination’s most popular place to stay, has some exciting new hotels, led by the impressive new Hotel Indigo, a property we particularly liked on our recent visit to the island. Rooms from $485.72 per night.
There’s also the new Vida, a boutique resort in the West Bay area that’s focused on wellness and experiential travel. Studio rooms starting at $1,058 right now, according to Google Hotels.
