By Brian Major
January 16, 2013 4:32 PM

The Cayman Islands said that when the final tally is in it will have welcomed more than 300,000 overnight visitors in 2012, the first time in 10 years the Caribbean destination has registered as many “stayover” tourists in consecutive years, according to Shomari Scott, director of tourism.

Although final year-end 2012 numbers have yet to be issued, Cayman Islands air arrivals for were up 3.9 percent between January and September, said Scott. Air arrivals through November of 2012 (the last month for which statistics are available), showed the destination within reach of its goal, with 286,242 arrivals.

In addition, cruise arrivals in the Cayman Islands’ totaled 1,345,449 through November of 2012, less than 60,000 passengers behind the 1,401,495 visitors recorded in all of 2011. While the year-end 2012 will not reach the historic highs achieved between 2003 and 2007 (when annual cruise traffic averaged 1,790,106 visitors), the destination’s cruise business remains buoyant, said Scott, echoing the Caymans’ success in attracting more overnight visitors.

“After a challenging 2009 which saw air arrivals decline by 10.2 percent and cruise arrivals by 2.1 percent, our tourism industry took a leap forward we began to see a slow but steady turnaround and we have registered impressive increases from 2010 to present,” said Scott. “In 2011, we exceeded the 300,000 target and welcomed 309,000 stay-over visitors, which at the time represented the best air arrivals over the previous 10 years and equated to an increase of 7.2 percent over the previous year. Stayover arrivals for 2011 were the best we had seen over a 10-year span and 2012 is tracking at approximately three percent over 2011 results. “

Scott called winter 2012-2013 season “strong,” describing bookings to date as “steady.” Cayman Islands’ cruise business also remains strong despite the destination’s lack of a cruise ship terminal capable of serving the largest cruise ships. Most cruise vessels continue to bring guests to shore via shipboard tenders, a time-consuming process that limits travelers’ time spent in the destination.

“The berthing facility is a critical necessity and it is common knowledge that the Cayman Islands have been repeatedly advised that cruise operators will not place destinations on their itineraries that don’t have berthing facilities,” said Scott. “Most of our Western Caribbean competitors, such as Honduras, Roatan, Montego Bay and Ocho Rios, already have walk-on cruise facilities and our islands are at a competitive disadvantage the longer we delay in addressing this issue.”

The Cayman Islands government led by McKeeva Bush, the former prime minister who left office in December following his arrest on theft charges, had sought for several years to launch a cruise terminal project. Earlier this year, Bush was reported by local press to be negotiating with China Harbour Engineering to build a cruise terminal in the capital of George Town, with a deadline of March 31 for the talks to conclude.

“With government having given its commitment that the scope of work for the berthing facility will be tendered, we remain hopeful that an agreement will be reached in the not too distant future which will enable work to commence on the cruise berthing facility sometime in the new year,” said Scott. For more information, click on Cayman Islands Tourist Arrival Statistics.

For more on this story go to:

http://www.travelpulse.com/cayman-islands-on-pace-for-second-strong-year-of-arrivals.html