The TCI Tourist Board announced today that it is in the final stages of completing visitor arrival information for 2012 which will be down on record-breaking 2011. The 2012 data will include passenger information collected from seaports, airports and via the Grand Turk Cruise Center. According to data obtained from the Grand Turk Cruise Center for the period January-December 2012 the total number of ship calls were 261 as against 270 in 2011. Passenger arrivals were six hundred and seventy-six thousand six hundred and forty-seven, an increase of 3.2 per cent over 2011. In that year, the country welcomed 354,223 land-based visitors, providing an aggregate total – cruise and land-based – of one million nine thousand seven hundred and twenty – eclipsing the one million mark for the first time.
As of November 2012 land based arrivals stood at 267,608 and while arrivals for December are still being tabulated, indicators – with the exception of January and February 2012 – show that arrivals were trending downward when compared to 2011. If this holds true, in December, we should expect a land-based visitor count of approximately 25,000 which would put our total land based arrivals at approximately 293,000. This, combined with cruise arrivals, comes to a total of approximately 970,000 visitors in 2012, just short of the one million mark. The Board will be providing exact visitor counts when the final numbers are in. In the future the Board says it will have the opportunity to provide more timely data on both a quantitative and qualitative basis with the introduction in 2012 of the CTO Mist system which allows for the refinement of information collected at ports of entry. While Providenciales remains the tourist hub, all indicators show that land-based tourists were on the increase throughout the family islands of North and Middle Caicos as well as Grand Turk and Salt Cay. South Caicos remains a challenge, but the Board says it is aware of the needs of South Caicos and is making every effort to provide greater exposure to the Island. Overall, while 2012 visitor counts fell short, the Board claims this can be attributed to various setbacks that caused a slight decrease in comparative numbers. In March, a two-day industrial action contributed to decreased air service, the summer saw an outbreak of the Noro-virus affecting arrivals in the short-term – and later in the year the passage of Hurricane Sandy contributed to a marked decrease in future bookings from the major source markets. It claims a 25 percent reduction in the Board’s overall budget also diminished its ability to market effectively in traditional and emerging markets. The Board however says it feels bullish about prospects for visitor arrivals even in light of sluggish economies in Europe and the US. It continues to see increased demand for information on the TCI. Director Ralph Higgs said that while the Board was disappointed that the TCI was unable to expand on the record breaking numbers achieved in 2011, he feels confident that the New Year will bring new vigor to tourism.
