…Key focus markets achieved positive outcome in September 2017…
WILLEMSTAD – October 24th, 2017
September Visitor Arrivals & Visitor Nights 2017
The Curaçao Tourist Board (CTB) is reporting growth in visitor arrivals from key focus markets. Stayover visitors from The Netherlands, United States of America, Canada and Brazil performed well in September 2017. The overall September performance is down by 6% despite the positive performance of key focus markets. Precisely, in total 2,068 fewer visitors were registered in September 2017, bringing the total count to 31,094 visitors against 33,162 in the same month last year. The fall in arrivals is due to the fact that arrivals from Venezuela are still affecting our overall arrivals performance. A total decrease of 47% is registered in September. Last year we counted 4,516 Venezuelans, while this year a total of 2,403 are welcomed in Curaçao.
The European region recorded an increase of 8% in September, counting a total of 16,842 Europeans to Curaçao. Last year we welcomed 15,647 European visitors. The market share in arrivals from Europe is currently 54%. The Netherlands recorded a 9% growth in September 2017. An additional 1,052 Dutch visitors were counted this year in September. From Germany we recorded 7% decrease in September 2017. A total of 1,849 German visitors were welcomed in September 2017.
Out of the region North America, we saw an increase of 5% visitors in September 2017. In total 4,656 North American visitors are registered. North Americans represent 15% of all the visitors in September this year. 3,997 US visitors are registered in September, recording 5% growth compared to last year. This growth was achieved despite the many cancelations of air service over 5 days due to Hurricane Irma.
Canada also grew by 8% in September 2017. Curaçao welcomed 659 Canadian visitors in September.
We welcomed less South Americans, a total of 6,420 stayover visitors are registered. This fall is due to the continuing drop in stayover arrivals from Venezuela, with 47% less stayover visitors compared to last year. In September we welcomed 2,403 stayover visitors from Venezuela. Arrivals from Brazil performed well compared to last year. We registered an increase of 2% to a total of 1,031 stayover visitors from Brazil. As a result of Avianca pilots being on strike during the last days of September, a 24% decrease in stayover arrivals is registered from Colombia.
Even though September registered less stayover arrivals, we registered a slight increase of 1% in visitor nights. A total of 272,579 visitor nights were registered compared to 268,817 last year. Both the European and North American region recorded positive visitor nights. From Europe an additional 8% is recorded, where from the Netherlands 9% growth is registered. In total visitors from Holland spent 142,194 nights in Curaçao. Visitors from North America spent 30,504 nights in Curaçao, a 11% growth. From the US we see growth of 12%. A total of 24,823 nights is spent from the US visitors.
Year to Date: January through September 2017
A direct impact of $ 372.5 million US dollars is generated for the local economy from January through September 2017. A total direct impact of 53.9% is generated from European visitors who are responsible for $ 200.9 million US dollars. Last year Europeans were responsible for $ 193.7 million US dollars, a 4% increase. From North America an increase of 4% is calculated in terms of direct economic impact. North Americans are responsible for $ 82.3 million US dollars in the first nine months of 2017, last year they contributed with $ 78.9 million US dollars. The South American and other regions generated respectively $ 66.9 and $ 22.4 million US dollars this year. In 2016 the South American and other regions generated respectively $ 80.2 and $ 24.8 million US dollars. The total spending per visitor derives from the number of nights spent on island. Both European and North American visitors are staying longer on island; this reflects back in their contribution to the local economy.
293,159 stayover visitors were welcomed in Curaçao in the first nine months of 2017. Last year we counted 333,019 stayover visitors over the same period, a decrease of 12%. Despite the double digit negative stayover arrivals performance during the first nine months, we see a slightly decrease of 2% in visitor nights spent on island. In total visitors spent 2,638,667 nights in Curaçao.
63.8% of the visitors nights spent are from European visitors, representing 1,683,153 nights from the region from January through September 2017. In total an increase of 4% visitor nights is registered from European visitors. From North America, the visitor nights also increased by 4%. A total of 402,517 nights are registered in the first nine months.
