TORONTO — The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism is reporting strong tourism numbers for the destination – and the Canadian market is getting a lot of the credit.

When visitation from the top 10 countries for Jan-Dec 2019 is compared to 2022, Canada recorded the second fastest recovery to pre-pandemic visitation to the Cayman Islands, ahead of the UK (fourth) and the U.S. (fifth).

Between July and December 2022, Canada recorded two record-breaking months, and three that were ahead of 2019 month over month numbers.

Raymond Mathias, BDM, Canada for the The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, said that despite pandemic-induced limited air service in 2022, which has now returned to normal scheduling, 19,852 Canadian travellers arrived in the Cayman Islands last year. That’s 66% of the country’s record year of 2019.

“The Cayman Islands has always been a favourite of discriminating Canadian travellers who value the diversity of experiences found on our three pristine islands and the superior infrastructure the destination offers,” said Mathias. “We were hopeful that as the pandemic waned, travellers would once again embrace the unique experience that Cayman offers, and are thrilled by the high consumer demand and support of our industry partners to ensure that even more Canadians can enjoy our distinctive islands.”

Canada exceeded its December visitation 12% over December 2019, he added.