Tourist, Cruise Ship Arrivals in Turks & Caicos Up in First Quarter

Tourist, Cruise Ship Arrivals in Turks & Caicos Up in First Quarter

Tourism continued to bounce back in the Turks and Caicos Islands during the first quarter of 2011, up a total of 17 percent over the same period last year and more than 50 percent better than 2009.

Long stay visitor arrivals were up 12 percent from the first three months of 2010, while cruise ship passenger arrivals at the Grand Turk Cruise Center were up 20 percent for the same period, according to figures provided by the Tourist Board, the Airport Authority and the Hotel and Tourism Association.

The Cruise Center remains one of the most popular cruise ports in the region, ranking behind only Puerto Rico, Nassau and St. Thomas.

“The Turks and Caicos tourism industry is one that continues to grow from strength to strength, even in these challenging economic times,” said Acting Director of Tourism Ralph Higgs. “The Board of Directors, our team and myself are extremely pleased with these figures for our long stay visitors to the destination, it is reflective of not just us but all of our tourism partners, working together to achieve this great success.”

Increased cooperation between the private sector and government to promote the destination coupled with Americans traveling more and a strong Canadian dollar have all helped to grow the country’s main industry.

Also helping to boost the tourism market are recently added flights from JetBlue and Continental. The two airlines landed their inaugural flights to the TCI back to back in March. Jet Blue added daily service from New York’s JFK airport to Providenciales, while Continental started nonstop service daily from Newark. Continental also added a Saturday direct flight from Boston.

That adds more than 2,000 potential passengers travelling to the destination each week.  This has proved especially important in the traditionally slower season, which usually begins in April. While resorts have reported a slow down, it is not the drop off they generally see after the Easter weeks.

Many resorts have said they have experienced record numbers for the winter 2010/11 season, welcome news after a two year slump. Higgs said the country’s tourism growth is ahead of all other Caribbean destinations, and he anticipates the steady growth to continue.