2025 sees early peak in cruise and stay-over guests
(CNS): Despite claims by the pro-cruise port lobby and Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan that Cayman must have cruise berthing facilities to reverse the current decline in the number of ships visiting here, the latest statistics from the Department of Tourism show that cruise arrivals were up 22% in February compared to last year. In the first two months of 2025, cruise arrivals were up 15.2% from last year, with well over 310,000 cruisers visiting Cayman at the start of the year.
After a record-breaking start to 2025 for stayover guests, the air arrival numbers for February were also higher than last year by almost three thousand guests, even though 2024 was a leap year and therefore had one additional day.
Overall, stay-over guests increased by 7.4% across the first two months of this year, with almost 86,000 guests staying at least one night on these islands — the best figures since Cayman’s record-breaking year of 2019, when the islands welcomed over half a million stay-over visitors.
Since then, the world and the tourism sector have faced COVID-19 and surging global inflation. While the regional tourism picture is mixed, there is no doubt that Cayman is attracting a fair share of the existing market, even in the cruise sector, calling into question the exiting government’s goal to build a costly, damaging cruise berthing facility, most likely in the George Town Harbour.
“February’s numbers show that we are on pace for growth in 2025, and we anticipate a strong Q1 for visitation and accompanying revenue from Tourism Accommodation Taxes,” Bryan said.
The majority of guests came from the United States, with the headcount of US visitors increasing 7.4% when compared to February 2024, mostly as a result of an increase in airlift.
There was also a strong growth in visitors from Canada in February — a total of 4,151, up about 10% from last year. Officials said this increase in visitors for January and February came on the heels of the tourism department’s investment in Canada, including a national advertising campaign and a weeklong broadcast partnership with Breakfast Television, the number one morning show in Canada, at the end of last year.
Arrivals from the UK and Ireland in February increased by 5.2%, with British Airways flight capacity from London Heathrow remaining consistent. The number of visitors from Europe was down by 14.9% compared to the same period in 2024, but that was partially offset by a 10.8% increase in visitors from Latin America due to a notable increase in visitors from Argentina.
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No cruise ships in today, 4 April, took 15 mins to get into town rather than 45 mins when two ships are in. Town was peaceful too. Just like the good old days.
Simple solution to the congestion in the morning. Don’t allow passengers off the ship until kids are at school and peeps are at work. Nothing is open when I drive in so the poor passengers are just ambling around stopping the traffic with those stupid pedestrian crossing lights – what doofus came up with that, where it allows no time for a car to get through if every pedestrian pushes the button.
Second transport solution:
Ban construction, business and delivery vehicles between 7 and 9 in the morning.
Anyway, nothing will be done or changed! So I’m just going to enjoy and appreciate this one day, where it feels like the island I grew up on.
Tell that to the merchants screaming for more,more, more.
what are you saying? all over the world, parks are hot spots for homeless people (/s). so technically, he IS addressing ‘housing’ LOL
just vote out Kenneth and the PPM as a whole and problem solved. No Cruise Berthing talk for another 3 election cycles. Believe you me, anyone that doesnt get that message loud and clear is simply living in the clouds and wont stand any chance of election.
Stand Firm on this Cayman, this must Never ever happen.
Why do our airline tickets include $18.29 per passenger in ADVANCE TAX (Pakistan), what kind of CIAA corruption hustle is that, and if it’s an innocent error, why can’t serious people fix it?!?
https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/how-barbados-bahamas-cayman-islands-jamaica-trinidad-and-tobago-saint-lucia-and-dominican-republic-are-banning-certain-things-for-travelers-to-promote-eco-tourism-and-protect-the-environment-in/
Vote no! Cruise berthing will not fix a decline. Most of the Caribbean had declines. We did have a major pandemic to grapple with.
We are rebounding and will continue to do so without a pier!
Vote no! There is no plan, no proposal, no business case for cruise berthing.
Even if Govt gives an immediate approval to proceed with piers, the design alternatives, alternative location, environmental concerns, input from competing interests, getting cruise lines on board, and most controversial it’s cost and financing, will take many years.
In the meantime everything will change , except the roads in George Town will not get wider, the beach will not get longer and Stingray city will not become an ocean to accommodate the thousands that will be dumped on it.
The article confirms there is no decline in cruise arrivals. Cruise numbers are up, not that they contribute much to CIG revenue. The best year ever brought in just $3mln bucks in head taxes. A billion dollar pier would therefore take 330 years to repay at that revenue rate, while prostituting ourselves for nothing over the same period. Cayman remains an indispensable mid-way stop on Western Caribbean itineraries, whether it has a pier or not. We need to reject the false FCCA and developer narratives. The failing duty free businesses in town selling dated inventory from the 1990s are failing because there are better duty free stores on the actual ships. There is declining consumer appetite for what’s being flogged: ie wrist watches, perfume, bone china, and shot glasses. These businesses do not employ Caymanians.
Kenneth Bryan the GQ Liberator is pushing for these piers for what reasons? Everything he touched was a failure. The Barbados/CAL deal, the transport system, the immigration reform, land purchase near Lobster Pot that has been fenced off since purchase and of course the the Scranton Park.we dont need parks, affordable homes would have been a better option for the homeless that are put up in hotels or even a parking lot for George Town as part of the revitalization.
The money being wasted on the park would be enough to build 40 homes…yes 40 homes which would benefit at least 150 people for life.
Any justification Kenneth..?
The public does need green space, but land doesn’t have to cost the tens of millions being poured into his Scranton monument of failure. Addiction education, intervention, rehab, and related social structures receive less than a single million bucks a year in attention. This fuels crime, gangs, domestic violence, the cycle of teen pregnancy, broken homes, and absentee parents.
Do not forget Red Spot Beach that Bryan is desperate to obtain for his cruise ship pier.
Why waste money when I plan to give it to the public, once I tackle planning to install the wheelchair ramp and improve the facilities.
Thank you man. Thank you Chris for what you do, and what you want to do. Any entity that opposes you is formally identified as the Enemy.
The Barbados CAL route did not work out that well, but his viewing of the Chinese-made electric busses are paying dividends.
Kenny went one step up on Barbados, and his electric bus fleet is not only quiet but invisible. He got the stealth version and nobody even notices when they drive by.
One way or another the Chinese will slither into Cayman with the help of their political enablers, who will be well rewarded.
They go well with the invisible bus stops.
how much will it cost us to replace the batteries I there is some kind of EMP (like in Ivan)?
Kenneth pushing the piers “for what reason.?”
Do you really have to ask ?
Bryan and DoT officials are stupid.
Both air and cruise arrivals “peaked” in early 2025, in comparison to last year.
It was directly related to the US national election in November.
Not more spending, morons, later spending.
It becomes even more clear that the Cayman Islands are necessary for the cruise lines as a waypoint. Without us, they would have to cruise hundreds of miles without making port.
Our tendering of the passengers actually brings them ashore in a measured way, as opposed to just dumping thousands at a time. We do NOT need a mega-cruise line port/piers. That would be the destruction of downtown, along with the costs translated forward for our grandchildren, and possibly theirs.
vote NO! we have too much to lose! The ones crying for this have somewhere else to run off to when it all goes to shit! We Caymanians are stuck here holding the bag when it all goes wrong! vote NO!
Hopefully the 15+% increase will tone down the pro-pier screamers , and have them direct their energies to making better business use of the passengers we do have, and not wail about those we don’t.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/200-passengers-sickened-norovirus-aboard-cunard-line-cruise/story?id=120387184
Exactly. Cruise ships are floating petri dishes. Anyone who actually goes on a cruise knows this, and the cruise ship companies too, hence all the sanitizer stations throughout all cruise ships for the passengers to use.
April 2nd Liberation day 2025 for Donald T poor Caribbean poor Cubans box in their own country without supplies and no VISA’s for them Caribbean prices skyrocketing now Cruise Mafia now forcing their agenda’s on poorer Caribbean countries What a mess !
What does that even mean? Serious question.
Bring on the mega piers, lets see how many more tourists we can stuff onto this rock.