by Linda Straker
Patricia Maher, Chief Executive Officer of the Grenada Tourism Authority (GTA) has disclosed that Grenada experienced growth in every market with the exception of the United Kingdom (UK) for the period January to August, when compared to the same period 2016.
The largest growth was from the German market with a 30% increase, while the least growth of 7% was in the Caricom market. The USA, as a major source market showed an increase of 13% and Canada was up 6%. The United Kingdom reduced share was 7.14%. In 2016, the UK arrivals from January to August were 18,702 and 17,367 for 2017.
| Jan- Aug 2016 | Jan- Aug 2017 | ||
| USA | 40,583 | 46,010 | 13.37% |
| UK | 18,702 | 17,367 | -7.14% |
| CARIBBEAN | 18,015 | 19,223 | 6.71% |
| CANADA | 9,931 | 10,527 | 6.00% |
| OTHER EUROPE | 3,271 | 3,426 | 5.84% |
| LATIN AMERICA | 1,265 | 810 | -35.97% |
| GERMANY | 1,192 | 1,564 | 31.21% |
| ALL OTHER | 1,655 | 1,852 | 11.90% |
| TOTAL | 94,614 | 100,815 | 6.55% |
“We believe it has to do with the value of the [British] pound and people watching what they spend,” she said while presenting a status of Grenada’s tourism products to journalists attending the 2017 State of the Tourism Industry Conference (SOTIC), which will conclude in Grenada on Friday.
Maher said that despite the reduction, Grenada will be attending the annual World Travel Market scheduled for 6-8 November. World Travel Market London is the leading global event for the travel industry. Now in its 37th year, this show attracts a global audience that shapes the travel industry. It brings together almost 5,000 exhibiting destinations, technology and private sector companies to find and network with 51,000 travel professionals, key industry buyers, journalists, digital influencers, students and tourism ministers.
Maher, who was the first speaker at the destinations briefings of the 2017 SOTIC conference, said that Grenada is also benefiting from the arrival of cruise ship calls which were originally scheduled to take visitors to ports in some territories in the northern Caribbean that have been devastated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
“We are set to have a potential increase in cruise ship arrivals. We are expecting 28 new calls,” she said while explaining that some of these ships did not book Grenada for early season calls but were scheduled to call at Grenada’s port later in the season.
Apart from the increase in cruise ship calls, Grenada is also the new home of the RORC International Race which was scheduled to take place in Virgin Gorda from 6-15 December.
