The Cayman Islands Celebrate Tourism Success with 437,842 Visitors in 2024

Written By: Pritam Dhar

Pritam Dhar

I have recently begun my journey in journalism, specialising in the ever-evolving world of travel and tourism. As part of Travel and Tour World, I focus on creating insightful stories that highlight industry trends, emerging destinations, aviation developments, and transformative changes shaping global travel. Through research-driven reporting and engaging storytelling, I aim to connect readers with meaningful insights into the future of tourism while exploring innovation, discovery, and the experiences that bring the world closer together.

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January 23, 2025 04:58 GMT+5:30

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The Cayman Islands achieved remarkable milestones in 2024, welcoming 437,842 stayover visitors from January to December—a 2% increase over 2023 figures.

Record-Breaking Months

March 2024 marked the second-highest monthly arrivals in the destination’s history, with 57,040 stayover visitors. December also stood out, attracting 52,046 visitors, the second-highest for the month on record and a 4.3% year-over-year increase.

Strong Tourism Revenue

Tourism accommodation taxes and fees generated approximately KYD $38.5 million from January to November 2024, an 8% increase over the same period in 2023. This revenue growth was supported by a 9% rise in the average daily rate (ADR) for hotel rooms, as reported by STR Inc., a leading hotel industry intelligence source.

Resilience Amid Weather Challenges

Despite facing an active hurricane season that brought significant rainfall and four named storms between July and November, the Cayman Islands maintained robust travel demand.

Key Source Markets

United States

The U.S. market saw a 1.4% increase in visitors in 2024 compared to 2023. December was particularly strong, with a 4.9% growth in U.S. arrivals. The Northeast and Midwest regions excelled, recording year-over-year growth of 12.9% and 10.1%, respectively.

“It was gratifying to see such positive growth in our stayover visitation numbers for 2024. Despite our strong results, globally the tourism sector faces economic, geopolitical and climate challenges. As an industry, locally we are not immune to these global shocks. We weathered a challenging hurricane season which saw the closure of Owen Roberts International Airport due to hurricane Beryl during one of our busiest travel periods in July,” said Kenneth Bryan, Deputy Premier and Ministry of Tourism and Ports.

“These challenges provided an opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Cayman Islands’ emergency response capabilities as we were able to rapidly restore our accommodation and product post-storm. It also highlighted our strong relationships with airline partners who worked with us to include additional evacuation flights pre-storm and immediately resumed their regular flight schedule post-storm. We look forward to working together with both on island and international partners to make 2025 as successful a year for tourism as 2024.”

Canada

Canada emerged as a standout growth market, setting monthly visitor records in six months of 2024. Annual visitor numbers rose by 5.3%, making 2024 the second-best year for Canadian arrivals. This growth was driven by the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism’s (CIDOT) robust PR campaigns, including a live broadcast by Canada’s top morning show, Breakfast Television, in November 2023.

UK, Ireland, and Continental Europe

Visitors from the UK and Ireland increased by 3.9%, boosted by CIDOT’s participation in events like World Travel Market (WTM) London and media features in prominent publications like Wanderlust and The Sunday Times. Continental Europe experienced a 12.3% rise in arrivals, thanks to CIDOT’s presence at major events such as ITB Berlin.

Latin America

Latin America recorded a steady 3.3% growth in arrivals, driven by CIDOT’s strategic investments in travel trade shows, media outreach, and training programs.

Increased Airlift Capacity

According to IATA, the Cayman Islands recorded an 8% increase in airline seat capacity in 2024, with 884,279 seats and 5,342 flights—a rise of 461 flights over 2023.

• United States: Airlines like United, Delta, and JetBlue expanded services, including increased flights from Newark, Washington D.C., Houston, Atlanta, and Boston.
• Canada: Air Canada and WestJet enhanced service from Toronto, contributing to a 16.8% growth in December seat capacity year-over-year.
• UK & Europe: British Airways expanded flight capacity by 8.4%.

Enhanced Accommodation Offerings

The Cayman Islands expanded its room inventory by 578 bedrooms, reaching a total of 8,356 in 2024. Key additions included:

• VIDA Cayman Islands: A boutique, luxury property catering to affluent travelers seeking wellness and adventure.
• Hotel Indigo Grand Cayman: The third IHG property in the destination, leveraging the brand’s global network of 6,000+ properties to attract new visitors.

These developments solidify the Cayman Islands’ position as a premier travel destination with diverse offerings and exceptional growth.

“2024 was a standout year for the destination not only from a visitation perspective, but also for our business development and marketing efforts,” said Mrs. Rosa Harris, Director of Tourism.

“The first quarter of the year saw CIDOT undertake significant global travel as part of our tourism recovery strategy, and it has paid dividends in our visitation for 2024. In addition to our travel, we deepened our relationships with airline partners like United Airlines by being the first Caribbean destination to market on their Kinective media platform and British Airways by undertaking a multi-channel marketing campaign including in-flight video, digital ads and print advertorials.

On the PR front, articles in US and Canadian lifestyle publications like Elle, Nylon and Hello! Canada and our number one spot on The Sunday Times “Best Islands” list encouraged travellers on both sides of the Atlantic to visit the destination.

We also hosted the CTO State of the Industry Conference for the first time, positioning the Cayman Islands as a premier destination for meetings and incentive travel while our vibrant calendar of entertainment and culinary events gave visitors a reason to put the destination on their bucket list. We are proud of the work that the Department of Tourism has done this year, and we look forward to building on this success in 2025.”