July arrivals best since 2004

July arrivals best since 2004.

July saw the biggest influx of visitors to Cayman in six years, according to figures released by the Department of Tourism.

A total of 144,674 people came to Cayman by cruise and air during July, which compared favourably to the same month every year since 2004, when 156,105 arrived.

Cruise ship arrivals were at the highest since 2006. This year, 115,471 visited, while the same month four years ago was a shade higher at 115,483. On a ten-year basis, 2010’s arrivals are fifth best for July. Peak years were 2002-2004, all of which had 120,000 or more. The July results represent a 6 per cent increase on a
year-on-year comparison.

Air arrivals comprised 29,203 of the total, which is also the fifth best in ten years. Another high point came in 2008 when 30,008 arrived by air in July 2008, but before that the best year was July 2004, which showed 33,118 arriving through Owen Roberts International Airport. The United States provided the largest proportion of visitors, comprising 24,078 of the total.

Geographically, all areas of the United States showed an increase totalling 17.5 per cent compared to 2009. Biggest gains were in the Midwest, with 3,437 arrivals, an increase of 31.8 per cent over the same month last year. The Northeast, which brought 7,780 visitors, was 24 per cent higher than 2009. Arrivals from the United Kingdom and Ireland fell very marginally, with 1,147 visitors this year compared to 1,149 in 2009. All visitors to Cayman by air recorded by the Cayman Islands Immigration Department are counted as tourist arrivals for the purposes of their statistics.

Via Cayman Net News