2017

Bi-Annual Report

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Cayman Islands

The Cayman Islands welcomed 1,100,164 total visitors in the first half of 2017. Stayover visitation registered year over year growth of 3.68% which totaled 218,235 guests. Cruise passenger arrivals declined by 9.39%. Visitors injected KY$337.2M into the Cayman Islands economy. Total international aviation capacity to the Cayman Islands grew by 4.54% for the first half of the year.

3.68%

Growth in stayover arrivals for the period January to June 2017

-9.39%

Cruise passenger arrivals declined

KY$337.2M

Total Expenditure

9.9

out of 10

Overall Satisfaction

World Tourism

International stayover tourism arrivals grew by an estimated 6% over the first four months of 2017, with business confidence reaching its highest level in decades according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The organization also reported that growth was highest in April and weakest in March due to the Easter Holiday period reflected later this year than 2016. International arrivals reported by destinations around the world were positive overall, with a few exceptions. It was estimated that growth in the Caribbean region was 2.3% for January to April 2017.

According to the World Economic Outlook for April 2017, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects global economies to grow by 3.5% in 2017 and 3.6% in 2018, up from 3.1% in 2016. The growth projections are supported by buoyant financial markets and cyclical recovery in the manufacturing and trade industries. Much of the expected pickup is expected to come from stronger activity in emerging markets such as China, India and Mexico. In the group of advanced economies, improvement is driven by higher projected growth in the United States.

Source: UNWTO World Tourism Barometer Volume 15

http://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2017/04/04/world-economic-outlook-april-2017

Stayover Arrivals by Region

USA

Visitors: 180,035
YOY % change: 6.80%
% Share of Arrivals: 82.50%
No. of Inbound Flights: 2,390
No. of Inbound Seats: 350,097

Canada

Visitors: 14,306
YOY % change: 1.63%
% Share of Arrivals: 6.56%
No. of Inbound Flights: 133
No. of Inbound Seats: 14,320

UK and Ireland

Visitors: 7,450
YOY % change: -9.02%
% Share of Arrivals: 3.41%
No. of Inbound Flights: 104
No. of Inbound Seats: 28,502

Rest of World

Visitors: 8,593
YOY % change: -19.20%
% Share of Arrivals: 3.94%
No. of Inbound Flights: 393
No. of Inbound Seats: 59,155

Continental Europe

Visitors: 4,505
YOY % change: -29.57%
% Share of Arrivals: 2.06%

Latin America

Visitors: 3,346
YOY % change: 27.86%
% Share of Arrivals: 1.53%
No. of Inbound Flights: 85
No. of Inbound Seats: 12,266

TOTAL STAYOVER ARRIVALS

3.68%

218,235

2017

210,490

2016

TOTAL INBOUND SEATS

4.54%

464,340

2017

444,194

2016

Sources: Cayman Islands Department of Immigration, Sabre Market Intelligence

Stayover Arrivals

Cruise Arrivals by Region

USA

% Share of Arrivals: 74.4%

Canada

% Share of Arrivals: 5.5%

UK and Ireland

% Share of Arrivals: 4.0%

Rest of World

% Share of Arrivals: 2.1%

Continental Europe

% Share of Arrivals: 8.1%

Latin America

% Share of Arrivals: 5.9%

Source: Port Authority of the Cayman Islands

Cruise Passenger Arrivals (% contribution)

Stayover Arrivals by Month

The destination recorded increases in arrival for four out of the first six months in 2017. April 2017 and June 2017 were the highest April and June ever in recorded history. Double digit growth rates were recorded in these two months with April increasing by 12.6% and June by 12.8%. March was the busiest month with 44,056 stayover visitors.

*hover to see data

Source: Port Authority of the Cayman Islands

Cruise Arrivals by Month

Cruise arrivals totaled 881,929 passengers in the first half of 2017, declining from 973,305 for the same period in 2016. The destination recorded declines in passenger arrivals in five out of the first six months in 2017. Growth of 7.46% was recorded in February whilst June had the largest decline with -25.56%.

*hover to see data

Source: Cayman Islands Department of Immigration

Demographic Profile of Visitors

Sex

Female visitation accounted for 52.17% of total stayover arrivals in 2017. This is an increase from the 51.72% share in 2016.

Source: Cayman Islands Department of Immigration

Age

Stayover

Source: Cayman Islands Department of Immigration

Cruise

Source: Port Authority of the Cayman Islands

Annual Income

Stayover

Cruise

Source: Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Visitors Exit Survey 2017

Occupation

Stayover

Source: Cayman Islands Department of Immigration

Cruise

Source: Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Visitor Exit Survey 2017

Purpose of Visit

78.7% of Stayover visitors main purpose of visit to the destination in the first half of 2017 was Recreation/Pleasure.

Source: Cayman Islands Department of Immigration

78.7%

Recreation/Pleasure

6.3%

Business

4.9%

Visiting Relatives

3.9%

Dive Vacation

0.8%

Wedding/Honeymoon

5.4%

Unknown/Other

Repeat Visitation

51.1% of visitors indicated that they had previously visited the Cayman Islands. January to March had 52.1% repeat visitors while April to June had 45.5%.

Source: Cayman Islands Department of Immigration

Frequency of Previous Visits

Survey respondents who previously visited the destination were asked about their frequency of visit to the destination. 41.4% stated that they visit at least once per year.

Source: Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Visitors Exit Survey 2017

Mode of Transport for Previous Visits

88.0% of stayover visitors surveyed reported that they previously visited the destination by air, while 12.0% previous visited on a cruise.

Source: Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Visitors Exit Survey 2017

Average Length of Stay

The average length of stay increased to 6.14 nights in 2017 from 6.00 nights when compared to 2016. Canada had the longest length of stay at 7.68 days.
The average length of stay increased across all regions except for Latin America. First time and repeat visitors also had increases in their length of stay.

Region

United States

5.95

days

Canada

7.68

days

Europe

7.65

days

Latin America

6.30

days

Rest of the World

5.79

days

Previous Visits

First Time Visitors

5.75

days

Repeat Visitors

6.61

days

Purpose of Visit

Visiting Relatives: 7.91 days
Dive Vacation: 6.87 days
Recreation/Pleasure: 6.26 days
Business: 3.56 days

Source: Cayman Islands Department of Immigration

Attractions Visited-Stayover Visitors

Stingray City was the most visited attraction by stayover visitors for the first half of 2017, with 50.6% of survey respondents reporting that they visited the attraction. Other places visited were Camana Bay (49.4%), Cayman Turtle Centre (44.6%) and Rum Point (32.6%).

*Click to view video

Stingray City - 50.6%

Camana Bay - 49.4%

Turtle Centre - 44.6%

Rum Point- 32.6%

Dolphin Discovery - 31.0%

Kittiwake - 16.8%

Botanic Park - 14.1%

Crystal Caves - 11.5%

Source: Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Visitors Exit Survey 2017

Attractions Visited-Cruise Visitors

The Cayman Turtle Center was the most visited attraction by cruise visitors for the first half of 2017, with 54.0% of survey respondents reporting that they visited the attraction. Other popular attactions amongst Cruise Visitors included Dolphin Discovery (31.1%) and Stingray City (30.2%).

54.0%

Turtle Centre

31.1%

Dolphin Discovery

30.2%

Stingray City

14.5

Rum Point

9.5%

Hell

4.8%

Botanic Park

4.8%

Craft Market

4.1%

Dolphin Cove

2.5%

Crystal Caves

2.5%

Mastic Trail

Source: Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Visitors Exit Survey 2017

Activity Participation

Stayover Visitors

Go to Beach - 93.9%

Visit Restaurants - 93.0%

Shopping - 82.7%

Snorkeling/Swimming - 72.1%

Go on tours - 54.6%

Nature trails/Ecotourism - 24.4%

Scubba Diving - 20.5%

Nightlife - 13.2%

Learn heritage / History / Culture - 8.6%

Fishing - 4.6%

Cruise Visitors

93.7% of cruise visitors did shopping and 81.3% went on a tour.

Go on tours - 81.3%

Snorkeling/ Swimming - 40.3%

Visit restaurants - 20.9%

Go to beach - 8.3%

Nature trails/ Ecotourism - 2.2%

Scuba Diving - 1.3%

Source: Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Visitors Exit Survey 2017

Rating of Destination

Stayover Visitors

When stayover survey respondents were asked to rate their "Overall Experience", 92.7% of respondents said it was "Very Good" and 6.3% "Good".

	Very Good	Good	Fair	Poor	Very Poor
Overall experience	92.7	6.3	0.8	0.2	0.1
Value for money	45.4	33.1	17.7	3.4	0.4
Accommodations	77.2	20.1	2.2	0.4	0.1
Attractions	91.0	7.6	1.0	0.3	0.0
Beaches	90.9	8.2	0.7	0.1	0.0
Customer service	86.7	12.5	0.7	0.0	0.1
Restaurants	77.0	21.5	1.4	0.1	0.0
Shopping	58.8	34.8	5.9	0.4	0.1
Tours	83.9	15.0	0.9	0.1	0.1
Transportation	53.4	40.2	6.0	0.4	0.0
Underwater experience	96.8	2.7	0.5	0.0	0.0
Water sports	89.8	9.7	0.3	0.1	0.1

Cruise Visitors

When stayover survey respondents were asked to rate their "Overall Experience", 91.3% of respondents said it was "Very Good" and 8.1% "Good".

	Very Good	Good	Fair	Poor	Very Poor
Overall experience	91.3	8.1	0.7	-	-
Value for money	77.2	19.1	3.0	0.7	-
Attractions	94.7	5.3	-	-	-
Beaches	89.6	8.1	0.7	1.5	-
Customer service	91.4	7.9	-	0.7	-
Restaurants	59.0	38.5	2.5	-	-
Shopping	62.8	36.3	0.9	-	-
Tours	87.9	11.3	0.4	0.4	-
Transportation	59.1	39.0	1.7	-	0.2
Underwater experience	83.3	16.7	-	-	-
Water sports	97.7	2.0	0.3	-	-

Source: Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Visitors Exit Survey 2017

Travel Intentions

Anticipated Returns

97.7% of stayover visitors surveyed reported that they would return to the destination by air.

*hover to see data

Of those stayover respondents where would like to return to the destination, 35.9% anticipated returning in over 2 years and 33.7% between 7 months and 1 year.

Source: Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Visitors Exit Survey 2017

Accommodation Stock

As of 30 June 2017

Overall Accommodation Stock

Bed Places (Capacity)

17,513

Bedrooms

6,012

Beds

8,631

Room Stock by Island

Grand Cayman

5617

Cayman Brac

257

Little Cayman

138

Source: Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Visitors Exit Survey 2017

Aviation

	2016	2016		2017	2017	Percentage Change Difference
	# of Flights	Seats		# of Flights	Seats		% change flights	% change seats
USA	2,349	341,833		2,390	350,097		1.75	2.42
Canada	130	14,260		133	14,320		2.31	0.42
LATAM	53	7,632		85	12,266		60.38	60.72
UK and Ireland	105	19,845		104	28,502		(0.95)	43.62
Rest of the World	421	60,624		393	59,155		(6.65)	(2.42)
Total	3,058	444,194		3,105	464,340		1.54	4.54

Source: Sabre Market Intelligence

Visitor Expenditure

Total visitor expenditure for the first half of 2017 was estimated to be KY$337.2M

KY$259.6M

estimated spend for the first half of 2017

7.73%

increase
KY$18.6M increase compared to 2016

	Jan-Jun		YOY Change
	2016	2017	#	%

Stayover Visitors
Total Arrivals (Persons)	210,490	218,235	7,745	3.68
Total Stayover Visitor Spending (KYD '000)	240,938	259,554	18,616	7.73
Average Spending per party (KYD)	2,701.38	2,806.82	105.44	3.90
Average Spending per person (KYD)	1,144.65	1,189.33	44.68	3.90
Average Spending per party per night (KYD)	423.41	434.49	11.08	2.62
Average Spending per person per night (KYD)	179.41	184.11	4.70	2.62
Average Length of Stay (nights)	6.38	6.46	0.08
Average Spending Party Size (Persons)	2.36	2.36	-	-

KY$77.6M

cruise visitors spending

-5.93%

decrease

	Jan-Jun		YOY Change
	2016	2017	#	%

Cruise Visitors
Number of Passengers	973,305	881,929	-91,376	-9.39
Cruise Passenger Onshore Visits (Persons)	875,975	793,738	-82,237	-9.39
Total Cruise Visitor Spending (KYD '000)	82,529	77,636	-4,893	-5.93
Average Spending per party (KYD)	208.20	220.07	11.87	5.70
Average Spending per person (KYD)	94.21	97.81	3.60	3.82
Average Spending Party Size (Persons)	2.21	2.25	0.04	-

Source: Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Visitors Exit Survey 2017