News
The Turks and Caicos Islands Maintains Position as Top Performing Premium Class Destination
Minister of Tourism, the Hon Josephine Connolly
PROVIDENCIALES, TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS (November 20th, 2024) The Turk and Caicos Islands has maintained its position as the top performing Premium Class destination in the Caribbean for 2024.
The Turks and Caicos Islands showed a +35 percent growth in its market share and together with Aruba and Puerto Rico showed the most growth in this niche. These three islands collectively accounted for almost 15 percent of all premium class arrivals according to a Travels Trends and Outlook report from Forward Keys.
The Turks and Caicos Islands is also among the top destinations showing growth in family travel to the Caribbean with an 18 percent increase. The report said that family travel was one of the key drivers in the growth of Caribbean tourism with arrivals of family-sized groups (three-five passengers) to Caribbean destinations showing an increase of +11 percent year to date.
Minister of Tourism, the Hon. Josephine Connolly said the report shows that the Turks and Caicos Islands’ brand as a luxury destination remains strong.
“The Turks and Caicos Islands offers a luxury product to affluent, multi-generational travellers looking for authentic, unique, safe and exclusive experiences. Our “Beautiful by Nature” multi-island destination offers all of that and more and from our hotel partners to our taxi drivers, everyone in the tourism industry is working hard to ensure that our visitors enjoy a luxury experience from the moment they step out of their aircraft. I am very proud of our performance this year,” the Minister said.
Overall, the Turks and Caicos Islands has seen double digit growth in air arrivals in 2024 at 19 percent over that of 2023. This growth, the report noted, was largely from the United States with John F Kennedy airport in New York emerging as the top performing hub for Caribbean connectivity.
Airlines added +7% more seats to Caribbean destinations from JFK so far this year compared to the equivalent period in 2023 with the Turks and Caicos Islands registering an increase in arrivals of +40 percent.
The report noted that with the US elections, as of October 30th, the travel outlook between the USA and the Caribbean is expected to see a -13% drop due to Americans who wanted to be home to vote.
That drop was reflected in our September and October arrival numbers.
September, a traditionally low month due to the hurricane season, saw 30,548, air arrivals, a -3.87 decrease from the corresponding period in 2023 while October registered 39,638 arrivals, a – 4.22 percent compared to the same period in 2023. Air arrivals are expected to pick up for the US thanksgiving holiday.
Cruise passengers for September and October were more optimistic with September seeing 81,297 passengers arriving at the Grand Turk Cruise Centre, a 71.99 percent increase compared to 2023, while October saw 110,329, a whopping 147.025 percent compared to the corresponding period in 2023.