Tourism: Key Areas Record Declines

STAY-OVER arrivals figures for Saint Lucia fell by 1.2% during the six-month comparative period (January to June, 2015 and January to June, 2016), representing 2,285 fewer visitors (down from 185, 424 in 2015 to 183, 139 in 2016).

The decline in numbers are contained in the Saint Lucia Tourist Board Research & Planning Department’s Tourist Arrivals Report (June 2016) released this week.

The stay-over arrivals per market segment were as follows:
• USA: 3.5% decrease, or 544 less stay-overs
• UK: 7.1% decrease, or 301 less stay-overs
• Caribbean: 5.0% increase, or 211 more stay-overs
• Canada: 17.2% increase, or 202 more stay-overs
• Rest of Europe: 1.2% increase, or 6 more stay-overs
• Germany: 15.6% decrease, or 10 less stay-overs
• France: 9.5% decrease, or 19 less stay-overs
• Rest of the World: 9.8% decrease, or 37 less stay-overs

Bed nights (calculated by total arrivals minus people staying in private accommodation multiplied by average length of stay) fell by 6.9% (from 1,318,441 to 1,227,567) during the comparative period, representing a loss of 90,874 bed nights.

Cruise ship arrivals during the period fell by 16.1%, from 399, 746 passengers in 2015 to 335, 382 passengers in 2016. That drop represents 64, 364 less passengers.

Cruise ship calls fell by 4.1% during the comparative period, representing 10 fewer calls. Comparatively, 245 cruise ship calls were recorded during the first six months of last year, while 235 cruise ship calls were recorded during the same period this year.

Yacht arrivals for Rodney Bay increased by 9.1% during the comparative period, from 20, 322 in 2015 to 22, 173 this year, or an increase by 1,851 arrivals. Yacht calls for that destination, however, fell by 6.1%, or 228 fewer yachts (from 3,727 to 3,499).

Yacht arrivals for Marigot Bay increased by 4.1%, or 275 more passengers. Comparatively, 6,653 yacht arrivals were recorded there during the January-June 2015 period, while 6,928 yacht arrivals were recorded from January-June this year. Yacht calls fell by 4.9% or 58 fewer yachts during the comparative six-month period (from 1,188 to 1,130).

Yacht arrivals for Soufriere fell by 25% during the January-June 2016 period compared to that six-month period last year. While 11, 156 yacht arrivals were recorded in 2015, only 8,385 yacht arrivals were recorded during that six-month period this year. There were also 217 fewer yachts calling into Soufriere between January and June this year compared to the same period last year from 1,338 to 1,121).