The Grenada Tourism Authority announced that for the third consecutive month commencing in September, visitor arrivals showed a significant increase over the benchmark year of 2019.
Available data suggested that this November is the highest ever, with a total of 14,232 visitors, representing a 17% increase over 2019 figures. December is also projected to surpass the previous high of December 2019.
This last quarter of 2022 has seen the return of all international flights into Grenada, including both Air Canada with twice weekly service and Sunwing Airlines every Sunday from Toronto. Condor Airlines, from Frankfurt also returned with a direct flight service every Sunday and British Airways expanded their flight schedule from London Gatwick by adding a third flight to Maurice Bishop International Airport on Sundays. Regionally, Caribbean Airlines Limited moved to provide a daily service from Trinidad and Tobago.
November also saw Grenada hosting a number of major conferences including the CXC Annual Ministerial Summit, the Caribbean Society of Endoscopic Surgeons, and the AGM of the Caribbean Chambers of Commerce.
Another highlight was the 2nd annual Tour Operators Marketplace which saw tour operators from the UK, USA and Canada meet with local hoteliers and tourism stakeholders for one-on-one meetings as well as to get a first-hand look at hotels and attractions and visit sister isles of Carriacou and Petite Martinique.
CEO of the Grenada Tourism Authority Petra Roach stated, “During the pandemic, we did a lot of groundwork putting systems in place to create a more efficient operation and also to evaluate our activity. We engaged new PR teams in North America and the UK and strengthened our overseas sales teams. Our digital footprint has expanded significantly which has given us a much more cost-effective marketing reach. A lot of time was prioritized for deepening the relationships with our distribution channels in the marketplace – i.e. our travel agent and tour operator partners, to better understand how their businesses aligns with our product. We continue to build our brand equity so that travelers keep Grenada in their consideration set of destinations they want to visit. We are laser focused on attracting visitors who want to take advantage of our safe environment, numerous community initiatives and who want to get out and about.”
The Honorable Lennox Andrews, Minister of Economic Development, Planning, Tourism, ICT and Creative Economy, Agriculture and Lands, Fisheries and Cooperatives stated, “We are heartened to see our arrival figures rebound so strongly with September, October and November showing increases of 11%, 6% and 17% respectively over the previous banner year of 2019. This is historically the highest November arrivals recorded.”
“The USA market has shown the strongest rebound and represents 61% of overall visitation. We expect that market to finish the year 2022 with a 2% growth over 2019 which, given the fact that Grenada opened its ports only in April of this year, shows how strong our recovery has been. It speaks to a sound and focused strategy where connectivity and accessibility to our tri-island state remain highly prioritized. We as a government are committed to ensuring that we provide every opportunity for our people to benefit from this industry,” added Andrews.
