Antigua and Barbuda’s tourism product continues to attract thousands to its shores and this is evident as there has been continual growth in visitor arrivals by air and sea throughout 2018. According to the quarterly visitor arrivals report released by the statistics department within the Ministry of Tourism and Investment, the third quarter of 2018, Antigua and Barbuda saw increases in both air and sea arrivals for the period when compared to 2017.
In that time, 52,491 visitors arrived by air to Antigua and Barbuda, an 8.56 percent increase from 2017. Between July and September, 26,631 visitors arrived by sea, an increase of over one-third (36.44 percent) when compared to the total sea arrivals for the previous year.
An 11.99 percent growth in arrivals from the U.S. market, the destination’s largest source market, has contributed to the rise in arrivals for the third quarter of 2018 while the U.K. market experienced a slight decrease of -2.25 percent from 2017 to 2018.
The Canadian market saw a strong performance with a growth of 111.79 percent as the market continues to benefit from increased airlift, brought on by the addition of Sunwing Airlines since November last year, while the Caribbean market continues to hold its own with relatively unchanged figures.
Overall, from January to September 2018, the total visitor arrivals recorded for Antigua and Barbuda stand at 744,390, an increase of 12.18 percent when compared to 2017.
The Ministry of Tourism and Investment expects that visitor arrivals will continue to increase for the remainder of 2018 with significant increased airlift from North America, as well as a full cruise schedule.
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