According to a statement by the Department of Tourism on 27 Dec., between January and November this year, Cayman recorded 448,551 stayover visitors – 37,567 more than during the same period last year. The number surpasses all January through November air arrivals statistics on record. Last month alone, 38,463 stayover visitors came to Cayman.

The DOT stated that there was a continued growth in the number of visitors from Canada, Europe and Latin America.

Earlier statistics for the first three quarters of the year showed that, because of a decline of 5.9% in the number of cruise ship tourists arriving, there was an overall drop of 2.7% in the total number of tourists.

Despite that dip in numbers, Cayman saw an 8% overall increase in the amount of money spent between January and September this year, with visitors spending $700.9 million.

“As we approach the year end, I am proud of the strategic efforts led by my Ministry and the Department to continue growing visitation,” said Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell in a statement. “My tourism team and I are committed to the future success of our industry and wish everyone a safe and joyous holiday season.”

Following devastation wrought by hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, several cruise ship companies redirected their routes from parts of the affected Eastern Caribbean to the Cayman Islands, resulting in a sharp increase in cruise tourism locally. Now that the Eastern Caribbean is recovering and re-opening ports, the cruise ships are returning to their original routes.