WILLEMSTAD –September 6th, 2017
July Visitor Arrivals, Visitor Nights & Economic Impact 2017
The Curaçao Tourist Board (CTB) reports a total direct impact of 41.9 million US dollars in July 2017.
Data generated from the ‘Turistika Model’ shows that European visitors are responsible for $ 24.8 million US dollars. The North and South American region both generated $7.3 million US dollars. From the Caribbean and other region we generated 2.5 million US dollars.
The July performance is down by 19%. The summer month did not perform well this year compared to last year. 6,958 fewer tourists found their way to vacation in Curaçao. The total count for July 2017 came to 29,773 stayover visitors. Last year we welcomed 36,731 stayover visitors in July. The fall in arrivals is due to the fact that arrivals from Venezuela are still affecting our overall arrivals performance. A total decrease of 57% is registered in July. Last year we counted 4,639 Venezuelans while this year a total of 2,016 are welcomed in Curaçao. In addition, we also know that in summer time locals are more likely to travel abroad. Figures received from the Airport Holding shows us that load factors from all regions are higher in July 2017 compared to July 2016. Meaning when more locals travel in a specific period they fill up the available seats, resulting in less stay over visitors to find vacant seats on our current routes.
The European region recorded a decrease of 8% in July, counting a total of 16,075 Europeans to Curaçao. The market share in arrivals from Europe is currently 54%. The Netherlands recorded a decrease of 6% growth in July 2017. 13,204 Dutch visitors were counted this year in July, which is good for the summer month. From Germany we recorded 14% decrease in July 2017. A total of 965 German visitors are welcomed in July 2017.
Out of the region North America, we see a decrease of 8% visitors in July 2017. In total 5,207 North American visitors is registered. North Americans represent 18% of all the visitors in July this year.
4,611 US visitors are registered in July, recording 10% decrease compared to last year. The US market is currently the second producing market for Curaçao’s tourism industry. Canada grew by 7% in July 2017. Curaçao welcomed 596 Canadian visitors in July.
Venezuela’s tourism performance is still holding the overall region down. In total 36% less visitors is registered from South America. Colombia showed positive arrival figures in July. In total 1,515 Colombians are welcomed. Last year we recorded 1,397 Colombians, a total increase of 8%. From Brazil and Suriname we recorded respectively 27% and 29% decrease in July 2017.
The trend that visitors are staying longer on island continues as we see that on average they stayed 10.3 nights in July. Last year the average nights per person was recorded at 9.0 nights. In terms of total visitor nights we recorded a total of 304,725 visitor nights in July 2017. Last year we registered 331,471 visitor nights.
