The Cayman Islands

2018

Bi-Annual Report

Cayman Islands

The Cayman Islands welcomed 1,314,875 total visitors (stayover arrivals and cruise passengers) for the period of January to June 2018. This was an increase of 214,711 persons or a 19.5% growth over the same period in 2017. Total visitation for the first six months was the highest in recorded history; surpassing the first half of 2004. The destination welcomed a record 1.3 million visitors for the first time.

Stayover visitation registered 2017 over 2018 growth of 15.9% which totalled 252,928 guests. Double-digit year over year growth was achieved for five (5) of the first six (6) months of 2018. Cruise passenger arrivals in 2018 totalled 1,061,947 passengers, which was a 20.4% growth over the first half of 2017.

In the first half of 2018, the destination received a total estimated visitor spend of KY$403.2 million. This was a KY$66.0 million or 19.6% increase over the same period of 2017.

International Tourism

UNWTO World Tourism Barometer (Jan. - Apr. 2018)

International tourism remains strong in the first four months of 2018. According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), international tourist arrivals (stayover visitors) grew 6% from January-April 2018 compared to the same period last year. UNWTO also reported that the results reflected a continuation of the strong trend seen in 2017 (+7%) and so far, exceed UNWTO’s forecast of 4% to 5% for the year 2018.

Growth in the first four months of 2018 was led by Asia and the Pacific (+8%) and Europe (+7%), while Africa (+6%), the Middle East (+4%) and the Americas (+3%) also recorded sound results. The Caribbean (-9%) experienced a decrease in arrivals during this period, which was impacted by the negative results from a few destinations that are still struggling with the effects of the hurricanes of August and September 2017. The January-April period represents approximately 28% of the annual arrivals and includes the winter sports season in the Northern Hemisphere, the summer season in the Southern Hemisphere, the Chinese New Year and the Easter holiday, among others.

Confidence in global tourism remains strong according to the latest UNWTO Panel of Tourism Experts survey. The Panel’s outlook for the current May-August period is one of the most optimistic in a decade, led by the particularly upbeat sentiment in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

Source: World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

Arrivals by Month

Stayover

Continuing the pattern of sustained growth over the last nine months of 2017, the destination recorded increase for each of the first six months of 2018. March 2018 was the first time the destination welcomed over 50,000 stayover visitors in a single month. March and January recorded the highest growth rates with 25% and 24% increases respectively.

Month 2017 2018
Jan 31,634 39,185
Feb 35,547 40,020
Mar 44,056 54,965
Apr 38,927 39,057
May 29,342 35,916
Jun 38,729 43,785

Source: Cayman Islands Immigration Department

Cruise

The destination recorded double-digit growth in cruise passenger arrivals for each of the first six months of 2018. January 2018 had the highest increase with 36,665 more cruise passengers than January 2017; May 2018 increased by 30.3% to record the highest percentage increase.

Month 2017 2018
Jan 181,765 218,430
Feb 189,704 220,603
Mar 199,844 232,902
Apr 125,284 151,687
May 94,523 123,203
Jun 90,809 115,122

Source: Port Authority of the Cayman Islands

Stayover Arrivals by Region

USA
Visitors: 213,096
YOY % change: 18.4%
% Share of Arrivals: 84.3%
UK and Ireland
Visitors: 7,663
YOY % change: 2.9%
% Share of Arrivals: 3.0%
Canada
Visitors: 15,781
YOY % change: 10.3%
% Share of Arrivals: 6.2%
Continental Europe
Visitors: 4,107
YOY % change: -8.8%
% Share of Arrivals: 1.6%
Rest of the World
Visitors: 8,531
YOY % change: -0.7%
% Share of Arrivals: 3.4%
Latin America
Visitors: 3,750
YOY % change: 12.1%
% Share of Arrivals: 1.5%
Source: Cayman Islands Immigration Department

US Arrivals By State

Source: Cayman Islands Immigration Department

Cruise Arrivals by Cruise Line

Norwegian Cruise Line brought an additional 115,728 passengers to the destination in the first half of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. This increase from Norwegian Cruise Line moved the cruise line from the fifth largest carrier of passengers to the third largest. Carnival Corporation brought 59,089 more passengers in the first half of 2018 compared to 2017.

Tuesday was the busiest day for cruise passenger arrivals in 2018. In the first half of 2017, Wednesday was the main cruise day in the Cayman Islands. This shift was mainly because of cruise lines bringing more passengers on Tuesday coupled with the fact that Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean who brought in the most passengers reduced the number of ships arriving into the destination on Wednesdays.

Major Cruise Corporations Cayman Islands Capacity
Cruise Line 2017 2018
Carnival Corporation 456,896 515,985
Royal Caribbean 224,499 221,439
Norwegian Cruise Line 42,345 158,073
MSC Cruises 92,292 105,234
Disney 53,158 53,612
Other 12,739 7,604
Major Cruise Corporations Cayman Islands Calls
Cruise Line 2017 2018
Carnival Corporation 147 177
Royal Caribbean 72 73
Norwegian Cruise Line 19 46
MSC Cruises 35 36
Disney 16 15
Other 13 14
Source: Port Authority of the Cayman Islands

Age and Gender

Gender of Stayover Visitors
Age of Stayover Visitors

The age group 36-49 accounted for 24.8% share of stayover visitors in the first half of 2018, which was a small decrease over 2017. This age group was followed closely behind by the 50-60 age category at 22.4% and 19-35 age group at 18.6%.

All age groups saw growth in arrivals. The 19-35 age group had the highest growth rate, increasing by 21.0%. The 0-18 age group recorded the lowest growth rate at 15.8%.

Median Age - 45 years old
Average Age - 42 years old
Source: Cayman Islands Immigration Department

Occupation

Stayover Visitors

Source: Cayman Islands Immigration Department

Cruise Visitors

Source: The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Visitor Exit Survey

Average Annual Household Income

Stayover Visitors
Cruise Visitors
Source: The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Visitor Exit Survey

Repeat Visitation

In the first half of 2018, 46.1% of visitors indicated that they had previously visited the Cayman Islands. The percent of visitors who previously visited the destination decreased by 2.8 percentage points from the 48.9% of visitors in the first half of 2017. The decrease in the repeat visitation percentage can be attributed to the fact that first-time visitation grew by more than twice the rate of repeat visitation. First-time visitation grew by 21.2% while repeat visitation saw growth of 8.6%.

Source: Cayman Islands Immigration Department

Average Length of Stay

The average length of stay decreased to 6.1 nights in 2018 from 6.2 nights when compared to 2017. UK and Ireland visitors had the longest average length of stay at 8.4 nights. Repeat visitors stayed an average 6.5 nights and persons visiting friends and relative stayed 7.7 nights.

Average Length of Stay by Region (Nights)
Regions 2017 2018
Canada 7.7 7.5
Continental Europe 6.5 6.5
Rest of the World 5.9 5.6
South & Central America 6.4 6.5
UK & Ireland 8.4 8.4
USA 6.0 5.9
Grand Total 6.2 6.1
Average Length of Stay by Previous Visits

Cruise Visitors Hours Ashore

Source: Cayman Islands Immigration Department / The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Visitor Exit Survey

Purpose of Visit

78.8% of stayover visitors main purpose of visit to the destination in the first half of 2018 was Recreation/Pleasure.

Recreation / Pleasure
2017: 78.8%
2018: 78.8%
Visiting Relatives
2017: 4.9%
2018: 4.8%
Business
2017: 6.3%%
2018: 6.4%
Dive Vacation
2017: 3.9%
2018: 3.7%
Wedding / Honeymoon
2017: 0.8%
2018: 0.9%
Other
2017: 5.3%
2018: 5.5%
Source: The Cayman Islands Immigration Department

Attractions Visited - Stayover

Stingray City was the most visited attraction by stayover visitors for the first half of 2018, with 55.4% of survey respondents reporting that they visited the attraction. Other places visited were Camana Bay (49.4%), Cayman Turtle Centre (47.2%) and Dolphin Discovery (29.1%).

Stingray City
Camana Bay
Cayman Turtle Centre
Rum Point
Dolphin Discovery
Cayman Islands National Museum
Hell Geological Site
ex-USS Kittiwake
Cayman Crystal Caves
Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park
Source : The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Visitor Exit Survey

Attractions Visited - Cruise

The Cayman Turtle Center was the most visited attraction by cruise visitors for the first half of 2018, with 53.9% of survey respondents reporting that they visited the attraction. Other popular attractions amongst Cruise Visitors included Dolphin Discovery (33.5%) and Stingray City (32.3%).

Cayman Turtle Centre
Dolphin Discover
Stingray City
Hell Geological Site
Cayman Islands National Museum
Rum Point
Cayman Craft Market
Cayman Crystal Caves
Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park
Mastic Trail
Source : The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Visitor Exit Survey

Rating of Destination

Stayover

When stayover survey respondents were asked to rate their "Overall Experience", 94% of respondents said it was "Very Good" and 5% "Good".

Very Good Good Fair Poor Very Poor
Overall experience 94% 5% 1% 0% 0%
Value for money 57% 25% 15% 3% 0%
Accommodations 79% 19% 2% 0% 0%
Attractions 89% 10% 1% 0% 0%
Beaches 90% 8% 1% 0% 0%
Customer service 90% 9% 1% 0% 0%
Restaurants 82% 16% 2% 0% 0%
Shopping 66% 28% 5% 1% 0%
Tours 85% 13% 1% 0% 0%
Transportation 65% 30% 4% 1% 0%
Underwater experience 90% 8% 2% 0% 0%
Watersports 89% 10% 1% 0% 0%
Source : The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Visitor Exit Survey

Rating of Destination

Cruise

When cruise survey respondents were asked to rate their "Overall Experience", 93% of respondents said it was "Very Good" and 6% "Good".

Very Good Good Fair Poor Very Poor
Overall experience 93% 6% 1% 0% 0%
Value for money 80% 16% 3% 1% 0%
Attractions 94% 6% 0% 0% 0%
Beaches 95% 4% 1% 1% 0%
Customer service 91% 8% 0% 1% 0%
Restaurants 62% 36% 2% 0% 0%
Shopping 66% 33% 1% 0% 0%
Tours 90% 10% 0% 0% 0%
Transportation 59% 39% 2% 0% 0%
Underwater experience 80% 15% 0% 5% 0%
Watersports 97% 2% 1% 0% 0%
Source : The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Visitor Exit Survey

Travel Intentions

98% of stayover and cruise visitors surveyed reported that they would return to the destination by air.

Of those survey respondents who would like to return to the destination, 43% of stayover visitors anticipate returning in over 2 years and 43% of cruise respondents between 7 months and 1 year.

Source : The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Visitor Exit Survey

Accommodation Stock

Overall Accommodation Stock

Bedrooms: 6,414
Beds: 9,113
Bed Places (Capacity): 18,488

Bedroom Stock by Islan and Category
Apartment Guest House Hotel Total
Cayman Brac 72 121 52 245
Grand Cayman 2,771 795 2,457 6,023
Little Cayman 34 34 78 146
Source : The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism

Expenditure

Stayover Visitor
  Jan-Jun YOY Change
  2017 2018 # %
Visitor Spending
Total Arrivals (Persons) 218,235 252,928 34,693 15.9
Total Stayover Visitor Spending (KYD '000) 259,554 309,067 49,513 19.1
Average Spending per party (KYD) 2,806.7 2,814.8 8.1 0.3
Average Spending per person (KYD) 1,189.3 1,222.0 32.7 2.7
Average Spending per party per night (KYD) 434.5 446.7 12.2 2.8
Average Spending per person per night (KYD) 184.1 193.9 9.8 5.3
Average Length of Stay (nights) 6.46 6.30 -0.16  
Average Spending Party Size (Persons) 2.36 2.30 -0.06  
Cruise Visitor
  Jan-Jun YOY Change
  2017 2018 # %
Visitor Spending
Cruise Passenger Onshore Visits (Persons) 793,738 955,753 162,015 20.4
Total Cruise Visitor Spending (KYD '000) 77,636 94,108 16,472 21.2
Average Spending per party (KYD) 220.1 218.7 -1.4 -0.6
Average Spending per person (KYD) 97.8 98.5 0.7 0.7
Average Spending Party Size(KYD) 2.25 2.22 -0.03  
 
Total Visitors Spending

YOY = Year over Year Change
Source: The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Visitor Exit Survey