GRAND CAYMAN — The Cayman Islands is reporting its 12th consecutive month of growth from the Canadian market, with arrivals from Canada up 20.36% in June, according to the latest stats from the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism.

Overall the Cayman Islands welcomed more than 1.3 million visitors between January and June 2018, an increase of 19.52% or 214,711 visitors when compared to the same period in 2017.

Air arrivals were up 15.9% for the first half of the year, with an increase of 34,693 visitors. Cruise passenger arrivals accounted for 81% of the islands’ total visitation.

The six-month performance comes on the heels of a record-breaking June for the destination, on the books as the best June ever for the Cayman Islands for stayover visitation and the 15th consecutive month of growth in arrivals.

“I am very pleased that tourism performance in the Cayman Islands is registering consistent growth and continues to outpace projections,” said Deputy Premier and Minister for Tourism, the Honourable Moses Kirkconnell.

“By applying the right marketing strategies, vision and spirit of collaboration to drive performance, the Cayman Islands tourism industry has maintained impressive, oftentimes, double-digit increases for a sustained period.”

He adds that preliminary estimates from the Department of Tourism indicate that between January and May 2018, visitor spending from cruise and stayover arrivals contributed CI$325 million to the national coffers, an increase of $45 million compared to the same period last year.

Arrivals from the U.S. in June were up 13.89%.

In January DOT launched its ‘Summer Only in Cayman’ promotion, which this year leveraged Cayman’s position as the Culinary Capital of the Caribbean including the Kid’s Culinary Capital of the Caribbean promotion, to broaden the appeal for families.

Soon the Cayman Islands will roll out its annual ‘Fall Only in Cayman’ campaign, with offers on everything from accommodations to immersive land and sea experiences.