(CNS) The Cayman Islands welcomed 32,411 overnight visitors in July, which is 63% of the number in 2019, the record-breaking year before the COVID-19 pandemic closed local borders. Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan said that the original target for visitor numbers for the end of this year was 40% of the more than half a million guests who came to Cayman in 2019, but he now expects to reach a quarter of a million stay-over tourists by New Year’s Eve.
Between January and June 2022, when there were still COVID restrictions in place and limited airlift, over 114,000 stay-over visitors flew into the Cayman Islands, which was around 41% of the air arrivals during the first half of 2019. But the numbers have climbed as each restriction, such as mask mandates and vaccine requirements, were lifted, setting Cayman on course to do much better than expected this year.
“I am confident that we are on target to deliver over a quarter million…
