From T&T Guardian

T&T was among the top five best performing cruise destinations last year, according to data released by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) in its latest state of the industry report. The country was among destinations to achieve double digit increases in cruise passenger arrivals, contributing to the eight per cent increase for the region compared to 2013. According to the CTO, the estimated total number of cruise passenger arrivals in the region was 23.9 million.

The monthly performances last year were better than the corresponding performances in 2013 with the exception of December which contracted.

Of the 24 destinations reporting data, 21 achieved increases, 14 of which achieved double-digit increases. St Vincent & the Grenadines (91.1 per cent), Martinique (71.3 per cent), Belize (42.9 per cent), T&T (30.1 per cent) and Turks & Caicos (24.8 per cent) were top five performing destinations. By market share, The Bahamas, Cozumel, US Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands and St Maarten are the top five destinations.

With the expansion in cruise business to Belize, Cayman Islands, Cozumel, Jamaica and Turks & Caicos Islands, the Western Caribbean is now the largest sub-region for cruise passenger arrivals having displaced the Eastern Caribbean from this position. “The islands of the Southern Caribbean did regain some of the capacity which it had lost during the period of high cost fuel,” the CTO reported.

Reflecting the resurging demand for leisure travel, arrivals to the Caribbean grew by 5.4 per cent outpacing the average global growth rate The CTO said the outlook for tourist arrivals to the Caribbean is cautiously optimistic—a further 4 to 5 per cent increase in arrivals is expected. The downside risks of a potential Ebola outbreak iand the current Chikungunya outbreak have dissipated somewhat, due to significant reduction in the rate of infections in the last quarter of 2014.

“As it relates to cruise passenger arrival numbers, the outlook is less optimistic. While the Caribbean will remain the number one cruise destination worldwide, it is expected to see a small decline in capacity as ships are again being repositioned away from the region, according to 2015-2016 Cruise Industry News Annual Report,” the CTO said. “For this reason, no significant growth in cruise passenger arrivals is expected this year.”

Last year, a record 26.3 million tourists visited the Caribbean. This was 1.3 million more than in 2013, itself a record year for the region. These visitors contributed a record US$29.2 billion to Caribbean economies, a 3.9 per cent rise over the US$28 billion visitors spent in 2013.

For more on this story go to: http://www.guardian.co.tt/business/2015-02-13/double-digit-cruise-growth-tt