The face of tourism in the British Overseas Territory is the Hon. Kenneth Bryan, the minister of tourism. He is the kind of guy one can have a beer with, and it showed during the just concluded SOTIC conference 2024 in his country.
At the closing night, he told delegates that were ready to party together with Cayman Islands cabinet members, the deputy prime minister, ministers, and leaders attending from all around the Caribbean and beyond and with the Queen of Music: “Whatever happens here tonight, will stay here tonight.” – and it happened!
A proud tourism minister told SOTIC delegates, that his small country of less than 70,000 people takes tourism very seriously, recognizing it as the business that brings money and prosperity to his islands.
The key message to potential visitors and Cayman Tourism’s key to success is a government guarantee for this destination to be a worry-free travel destination, even during the Hurricane season.
Worry-free vacation guarantee
The Cayman Islands came up with the Worry Free Hurricane Guarantee for visitors.
According to the minister, the Cayman Islands prides itself on providing travelers with unrivaled vacation experiences and allowing guests to be unburdened by the stresses of everyday life.
As hurricane seasons are unpredictable, the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism continues to give its visitors peace of mind with the destination’s Worry Free Hurricane Guarantee. The guarantee covers travel between June 1 and November 30, 2024.
Accommodation providers will refund/rebook travel once an official hurricane watch has been issued by the Hazard Management of the Cayman Islands
How many visitors to Cayman?
The Cayman Islands welcomed 250,699 stay-over visitors from January to June 2024, marking the third-highest visitation for the first half of a year in recorded history only behind 2018 and 2019.
• The number of visits by stay-over visitors increased by 6.5% compared to 2023.
• Visitors stayed an average of 6.0 nights in the destination, and 43.2% had previously visited the Cayman Islands.
• 45% of individuals were between 36 and 60 years old, with an average age of 42.9 years
Visitation peaked in March 2024 with 57,040, the second-highest number for a single month in recorded history, only behind March 2019.
Top Three Visitors Country for the Cayman Islands
The top three countries for visitation were the United States (210,712), Canada (17,186), and the United Kingdom (7,120).
• The United States contributed the most visitors, with 84.0% of total stay-over visits a 0.4 percentage point increase when compared to 2023.
Airlines flying to the Cayman Islands
Cayman Airways, the national carrier and foreign airline serving Cayman Islands international airports counted for 425,870 seats in the first half of 2024 with 365 flights counted.
Expansions are in the planning or have been realized already with Jet Blue adding a third frequency from Boston.
United Airlines is expanding its nonstop services from UA gateways in Chicago, Houston, and Washington Dulles in Virginia. Delta is starting to operate three weekly nonstop flights from Minneapolis, while American Airlines will gradually increase its nonstop service from Dallas to daily as of February 2025.
British Airways is serving Cayman from Nassau and the U.K.
This British overseas territory offers 3864 condos, 1387 villas, and 2831 hotel rooms. The hospitality industry reached a major milestone surpassing 8000 rooms to 8082.
Hotel Openings
New hotel openings include the Hotel Indigo Grand Cayman, and VIDA, a luxury boutique hotel focused on wellness, adventure, and sustainability.
Slated to add more than 600 rooms by the end of 2025 in George Town with ONE GT, Grand Hyatt, and Kailani, a Curio Collection by Hilton.
Besides new hotels, Cayman is aiming to become the gourmet capital of the Caribbean with new restaurants and entertainment venues. Cayman remains to be one of the best food places, and delegates at SOTIC got a mouthful on this.
Niche Markets for the Cayman Islands
Minister Bryan confirmed to eTurboNews the importance of the Ageless Tourism Market. He also emphasized the importance of his destination for meetings and incentive travel.
Cayman Islands National Tourism Plan
The minister explained the Cayman Islands National Tourism Plan 2024
• A Strategic Roadmap to help maximize and spread the benefits of tourism development across the three Cayman Islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman.
• Includes vision, goals, strategies, and key performance Indicators to future-proof and sustainably develop the Cayman Islands tourism industry.
The Island’s tourism plan sets goals.
- Protect manage and enhance cultural and natural resources.
- Enhance the business environment to support industry growth and investment
- Improve connectivity and tourism-related infrastructure
- Deliver outstanding visitor experiences
- Develop a highly skilled tourism workforce.
- Develop strong partnerships for sustainability.
- Manage, market, and diversify tourism assets
Cayman is also a destination for festivals featuring anything from Scuba diving to Gourmet and a marathon.
Festivals
Cayman National Festival taking place throughout November on
• Grand Cayman 8-16 November, 2024
• Cayman Brac 22-24 November, 2024
• Little Cayman 30 November 2024
It’s a celebration of Culture and heritage across all three Cayman Islands.
Highlights include Pirates Landing and Parade, Fireworks Displays, and District Cultural and Heritage Days.
The marathon takes place on 1 December 2024 and is expecting more than 1000 participants. It’s also a qualification for the Boston Marathon.
