In a major boost to Antigua and Barbuda's tourism sector, the visitor stayover arrivals to the twin-island paradise for July surpassed pre-COVID levels with tourists flocking to the islands during the traditional low season.
The Ministry of Tourism has announced that stayover arrivals for the month came in at a high with 23,405 tourists visiting Antigua and Barbuda via the V.C. Bird International Airport. The July 2021 air arrival figures have surpassed 2019 arrivals, which, during the record-breaking year, stood at 23,031.
"There has been a visible change in the travel behavior of our visitors brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and we continue to see a steady increase in arrivals during the summer months," said Minister of Tourism Charles Fernandez in a press announcement. "July has been an extremely strong month with demand for the destination from the U.S. market as well as the U.K. market booming, with growth above 2019 figures. We are also beginning to see an uptake from our Caribbean and Canadian market.”
Among the main source markets, 15,350 tourists flew to Antigua and Barbuda from the United States in July 2021 compared to 10,221 in July 2019. This is followed by 6,521 from the United Kingdom compared to 5,378 the same time of the year two years ago. With airlift still not up to pre-COVID levels, Antigua and Barbuda received 839 tourists from the Caribbean and 107 from Canada during the month.
With air arrivals up, hoteliers across the country have been busy. Vernon A. Jeffers Sr., executive chairman of the Antigua and Barbuda Hotels and Tourism Association, reports that, “July saw a return to very high occupancies particularly across our mid-range sized hotels who performed at 80 percent and higher. We certainly hope that these occupancy levels are sustained over the next few months as travelers continue to make last-minute decisions to travel to the destination.”
The good news continued as tour operators, taxis and restauranteurs have all indicated that experienced an uptake in business for the month of July with some partners calling July 2021, “the best July in years even before COVID” with increased bookings for the month, as well as going into August.
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