| Tourist arrivals up 25 percent | | Print | |
| Thursday, 09 September 2010 11:23 | |||
 The second quarter of 2010 continued to see more long-stay tourists and cruise passengers arriving than last year’s dismal second quarter in the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Tourist Board announced Sept. 3. “We are thrilled to see our arrival numbers for 2010 up 25 percent, and we are optimistic that these numbers will continue to climb through the remainder of the year, except for the traditional slow months of September and October when many of our hotel partners close for repairs and refurbishment,” said Ralph Higgs, acting director of the Tourist Board. The Ministry of Finance confirmed that the increase in tourist arrivals corresponds with revenue collected from the accommodation tax for the same period in 2009. Long-stay tourist arrivals were up 27 percent, bolstered by increased arrivals in April and May, which were 36 and 42 percent higher respectively than in 2009. However, arrivals in the first six months of the year did not translate into the same increases for hotels and resorts in the Turks and Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association. Unaudited occupancy figures show average increases of 11 percent for the first half of 2010, but room rates have been deeply discounted to attract more guests. Hoteliers point out that long-stay tourists can include condo owners and their guests, who don’t generate revenue for hotels and resorts.  Total tourism arrivals for the first half of 2010 included 167,057 long-stay visitors and 322,012 cruise ship visitors to Grand Turk. Tourists coming from Canada nearly doubled to 24,000 in the first six months of the year, thanks to new airline service from WestJet. But the U.S. continues to be the source of more than 70 percent of visitors — 117,805 in the first six months, which was 21 percent more than last year. European visitors continue to make up only about 1 percent of long-stay tourists, with little increase this year. Possibly making matters worse, the U.K. has increased air passenger duty for flights to the Caribbean and will increase it again soon, adding $100-200 to the cost of a flight by November. “We are impressed by these increases, and we feel this speaks to the strength of our tourism industries; airlift, accommodation, attractions both natural and man-made; and the hospitable nature of our people working directly and indirectly in our tourism industry,” Higgs said. The Tourist Board said it will continue to increase its presence within the market place, embarking on a series of travel and trade shows, sponsor and promotional events in the U.S., Canada and Europe and continue working with wholesalers and hotel partners to sell the destination.
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