…5% increase in overall stayover arrivals…
WILLEMSTAD – August 27th, 2019
July Visitor Arrivals 2019
CTB reports another month of positive growth in stayover visitor arrivals. The latest tourism statistics show an increase of 5% in stayover visitors for July 2019. With 37,248 stayover arrivals, there were 1,611 more visitors than was recorded in July 2018.
Our main producing country, The Netherlands, recorded 3% more stayover visitors in July. In total 16,454 stayover visitors were welcomed from Holland. Germany performed extremely well recording 33% more visitors in July. The seasonal flight from Frankfurt with Condor ended in April and will resume on November 3rd 2019. Meanwhile Europe as a whole had a 4% increase producing 19,727 visitors in July.
The North American market grew by 3% in July 2019. We welcomed in total 7,007 North American visitors. Despite the fact that we had less seat capacity out of the gateways New York and Charlotte compared to same period last year, arrivals from the USA increased by 4%. This positive tourism performance out of USA reflects continued demand from US visitors. CTB together with its partners has been consistent in promoting the island with the recent campaign “Curaçao: Feel it for yourself” which is producing results.
The South American region continues to grow with a slight increase of 2% in July 2019. Additional airlift has played an integral role in the positive numbers out of Colombia. On April 11, Wingo launched twice-weekly service from Bogota to Curaçao, while Avianca operated four additional weekly flights from Bogota this year compared to last year. Colombia grew reporting 2,289 visitors, an increase of 26% stayover visitors.
The Caribbean region grew by 18% in July. We welcomed 3,724 stayover visitors out of the region. Aruba recorded 4% growth, which in absolute numbers is 1,294 visitors.
The overall visitor nights grew by 2% in July 2019. In total 362 thousand visitor nights are registered. Out of Europe, tourists spent 246 thousand nights in Curaçao, a flat performance. North and South American visitors spent respectively 49 and 43 thousand visitor nights in July. Visitors from the Caribbean region spent 23 thousand nights in Curaçao.
Year to date: January through July 2019
Stayover visitor arrivals grew by 14% in the first seven months of 2019. All reporting regions grew year to date. In total 275 thousand visitors are registered from January through July 2019. Out of Europe, we welcomed 142 thousand tourists in Curaçao, an 11% increase. From North and South America, we welcomed 63 and 42 thousand visitors respectively. The North American region grew by 11%, traffic from the South American region increased by 27%. Our neighboring islands from the Caribbean provided 21 thousand visitors during this period, a 16% growth.
