Tourism on road to recovery with one million visitors
(CNS): Official figures released by the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism show that 284,274 people vacationed here last year and 743,394 cruise passengers called at George Town port, as the tourism sector began recovering once the borders opened, cruise ships began returning and all restrictions were lifted by the summer. The figures for both sectors surpassed the targets set by the government, with stay-over guests reaching more than half of the 2019 figures and well over the revised target of 250,000.
All travel restrictions were lifted at the end of August and air arrivals soared, the DoT stated on its website. Overnight guests during the last quarter of 2023 averaged 89% of 2019’s numbers, and for the full year, January through December, the Cayman Islands recorded 57% of the numbers in the year before the pandemic crushed the tourism sector.
Meanwhile, over 126,000 people came via cruise ship in December alone, bringing the yearly total to just over the original 40% target of 2019 passenger numbers by the end of 2020.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
How awful
They’ll all soon be headed to Kenny Beach. It’s visionary you know.
Ha! Inevitably, only to be served by our ubiquitous hard-working Filipino.
On Slave wages
With all the money flowing into gov.coffers this island could have already had:
🚌state of the art public transportation,
♻️waste management system,
🛣properly designed roads
📚superior education
and
become The most ecologically pristine island in the world
WHERE DO THE MONEY GO?????????????????????????
Where Have all Brains Gone?
Annual CIG budget spending is now $1 Billion, with very little improvement or vision to show for it.
into illegal billboards and arrogance.
Look at the WB MLAs as for where the brains went! Our dear donkey rider, sorry I meant jackass , is the apt illustration of the situation , the man speaks and all your hear is the sound of the brains pouring down the drains.
As for the education system on island, I have to admit it is broken beyond any form of recognition as the recruitment in the public schools system is concerned , you can’t achieve excellence by segregating expat kids out of the public schools and only paying lip service to the parents role in a child’s development and education.
The roads here sure could use upgrades but special interests aren’t going to let improvements happen any time soon , the NRA sure employs a LOT more people than needed to build a 6 lane 5 star over the water highway system circling around the island with manpower to spare to operate a reliable hovercraft ferry service.
But all that implies there is enough brain 🧠 power at the helm and on island to bring such sophisticated solutions into reality and that my dear isn’t in the cards to judge by the brilliance the present 3 ring circus 🎪 where the clowns 🤡 have taken over he show and are gunning down the audience !
Your last question – they were never there in the first place.
And how does this benefit us prices and wages remain the same. all we get here is overpopulation and over priced.
Below minimum wages cannot bode well – not even for the masses of importstaffs from Asia India Africa Jamaica etc that are found from hotel doormen to concierge offices and servers.
Don’t tell me either how locals are lazy and do like tourism work.
Eat it. $4.50 hourly with tipping at a LOW state these days, is a starvation salary for locals.
Pay fair wages, train and it will turn around.
Panicked airline fuel hedge strategies from last year seem to be catching up with passenger fare pricing. Economy fares that used to range $500-750 are now $1500-5500 return on a variety of major airlines. Hopefully this period doesn’t last long.
and zero imorovements or thought put into surrounding infrastructure…….zzzzzzzzz
tourists are lucky they don’t have to live here full time…
True. There isn’t even a sidewalk on the east side of West Bay Road along the core of the Hotel Tourism Zone, with cross-walks to empty lots, and jungle creep. Still no bike lanes either (esp southbound WBR)
743,394 cruise arrivals x $2.46 per head passenger fee = CI General Revenue contribution of $1,828,749 gross, towards annual CIG operating expenditures of >$921,500,000. This can’t possibly be the “pillar” contribution that blinds so many successive Ministers of Tourism. It’s a laughable number when put into context of the mystifying priority it’s given. There are single firms that contribute exponentially more just in their annual support staff permits.
So 900+ Million dollars isn’t good enough?
Read it again, and then get back to us. 😀
We should question how much of that $1.8mln is eroded by the CI Port Authority subsidy to Cayman Marine Services for rebated tendering fees for passenger volume with select liners, like Royal Caribbean’s 2012 deal. McKeeva had unilaterally committed us to a port deal with GLF, reneged, with $2mln settlement payment paid (a whole year’s worth of cruise revenue forfeited), and then CHEC, reneging again, Verdant Isle, a third renege. XXXX
What is the net cost that cruise tourism has applied to our islands’s revenue, sustained political corruption, quality of life, degradation of stay over experience, traffic, congestion – and will we ever ask these questions, restore our reputation, and stop this bleeding?
That’s nice. Can I request that the rental car companies give tourists stricter instructions on how to drive on our roads. Been nearly hit twice on roundabouts recently by tourists who don’t know how they work. And yes I know they were tourists.
I had two in one day within 5 minutes. They are totally oblivious to cars being on the roundabout to their right. Drivers beware the green numbers on license plates.
you’re lucky. 2 cars destroyed because tourists have no idea how the roundabout works. At least got good insurance payouts but it’s still a pain.
Can we please have red number plates for tourists! Our a flashing light in the roof or something .. they are an absolute menace in traffic.
And our substandard infrastructure clearly cannot handle it. Are your deaf, dumb and blind Mr. Bryan?
You do know this is 43% less people than in 2019 right? That’s what the report was saying.
How many of those “ tourists “ are people coming in to see family after a two year hiatus? How many travelled multiple times in one year to the island? Know a lot of people who flew in multiple times to check property etc.
Cayman Tourism Sector is recovering and Cayman residents are dying from disease