…19% more stayover arrivals in July 2018…
WILLEMSTAD – August 24th, 2018
July Visitor Arrivals 2018
The Curaçao Tourist Board (CTB) is reporting an overall 19% growth in visitor arrivals in July 2018. Precisely, in total 5,633 more visitors were registered in July 2018, bringing the total count to 35,408 visitors against 29,775 in the same month last year. July is also known as one of the peak months where visitors choose to travel to Curaçao.
Curaçao welcomed a total of 15,895 stayover visitors from the Netherlands; the main producing country closed July with double digit growth of 20%. The Netherlands continues to be the leading country where 45% of our share from stayover arrivals is originating. This growth is the effect of having two additional flights from Amsterdam this summer. The seasonal flights between Brussels and Curaçao that started on June 18th resulted in 40% more visitors from Belgium. A total of 907 Belgian visitors visited Curaçao in July 2018.
From the United States of America an increase of 32% is registered in July 2018. The many additional seats from USA this summer resulted in an excellent performance in July. To summarize from Charlotte we have the second weekly flight and out of Miami the upgauge of equipment with American Airlines. JetBlue started with the fourth weekly flight from New York (JFK) on June 19th. All these additional flights in combination of CTB and partners continuous support of branding Curaçao in the USA resulted in a total of 6,111 visitors in July. Last year we recorded 4,622 stayover arrivals from USA. Curaçao welcomed a total of 629 stayover visitors from Canada, which is a 6% growth for the country’s slow season month.
Both secondary focus countries from South America performed very well recording double digit growth. From Colombia we registered an increase of 19% to a total of 1,810 stayover visitors. The increase in stayover arrivals is the result of marketing efforts in combination with charter services. Traffic from Brazil recorded growth of 78% in July 2018. In total 1,463 Brazilians were welcomed. The outstanding growth from Brazil is the direct effect of additional seat capacity with Copa Airlines from Panama. Overall South America region grew by 2%. It is the first time since April 2016 that the region closed a month with positive performance. The loss of arrivals from Venezuela (-52%) did not affect the total South America region performance. From our neighbor island Aruba a growth of 11% is registered. A total of 1,168 Aruban visitors travelled to Curaçao in July. Trinidad & Tobago also shows a growth in visitor arrivals, with 29% more tourists.
January through July Visitor Arrivals 2018
The overall stayover arrivals in the first seven months grew by 4% compared to last year. Curaçao welcomed in total 240,214 stayover visitors in the first seven months of 2018. During the first seven months of 2018 a total of 102,331 Dutch visitors were welcomed. Last year in the same period 90,950 Dutch visitors were counted, an increase of 13%. From the United States of America the growth is recorded at 16% counting a total of 42,205 US visitors from January through July 2018. In 2017 we welcomed 36,365 stayover arrivals from USA. Canada grew with 6% more visitors, counting a total of 14.146 stayover arrivals in the first seven months of the year 2018.
A direct impact of $ 364.7 million US dollars is generated for the local economy in the first seven months of 2018. 47% of the total direct impact is generated from European visitors who are responsible for $ 172.1 million US dollars. The direct economic impact from the remaining regions is as follows: North America $ 91.3 million, South America $ 54.3 million and Caribbean/other regions $ 47 million.
