Bumper year for cruise passengers
Cruise ship tender (Photo by Dennie Warren Jr)
(CNS): After years of falling cruise passenger arrivals, the Cayman Islands witnessed a significant boost in the number of ships and passengers calling on the jurisdiction in 2014. Despite not having the cruise piers, 1,609, 555 people on 562 ships arrived in the jurisdiction over the 12 months, according to Port Authority statistics — a more than 23% increase. This is the best number of arrivals since 2007 when 1,725,647 passengers arrived, and considerably more than 2013 when 1,375,872 people visited the George Town port.
The numbers were boosted by the best December for cruise ship visits since 2006. In final month of last year 195,277 passengers visited on 77 ships, reminiscent of Decembers in years gone by and a significant improvement on the recent years, in particular 2011 when arrival numbers in December, the peak of the cruise tourist season, fell to 159,471.
The year-end statistics representing the increase in cruise passengers come from the Port Authority. The Department of Tourism has not yet released the air arrival statistics and its website has not been updated for November or December, so the year-end arrival figures are not yet available but they are also expected to continue the upward trend.
Category: Cruise Tourism, Tourism
