by Brian Major
Last updated: 9:29 AM ET, Wed February 5, 2020
One of the Caribbean's smallest nations is experiencing significant tourism growth. Visitor arrivals in Montserrat increased 14 percent year-over-year in 2019, and this was the first time since the 1995 eruption of the Soufriere Hills Volcano that arrivals surpassed 20,000 travelers.
Monserrat hosted 20,956 visitors in 2019 after welcoming 18,338 in 2018. The nation's tourism growth was driven by a 59 percent increase in cruise ship visits, complemented by a two percent increase in land-based, overnight arrivals.
Caribbean residents represented Montserrat's largest visitor market, accounting for 19 percent of overnight visitors to the country. Travelers from the United Kingdom accounted for 13.4 percent of visitors in 2019, while U.S.-based visitors produced 12.6 percent of Montserrat visitors last year.
"We're thrilled we've been able to surpass 20,000 visitors," said Warren Solomon, Montserrat's director of tourism. "It tells us we're on the right track with our marketing initiatives and if we are able to be consistent in our delivery, we could continue the growth trend."
Solomon said Joseph Farrell, Montserrat's prime minister and director of tourism, is working with the office of the premier "to secure additional funding for marketing to increase stay-over visitors."
Montserrat's Statistics Department also reported visitor spending in the destination increased one percent in 2019, totaling $27 million. Solomon said the low growth "means that although more people are visiting the island, this is not being fully reflected in their level of expenditure."
He said product development initiatives including "enhancements to the trail network and beach facilities, service training in the tourism sector and the construction of a Volcano Interpretive Centre" would stimulate increased activity and spending by Montserrat visitors.
Montserrat's most distinctive feature relates directly to the Soufriere Hills volcano: Montserrat's Georgian-era capital city of Plymouth was buried by the volcano's July 18, 1995 eruption. The event leveled the 40 square-mile island's southern half, including and the main seaport, and buried streets, homes, buildings and businesses in 39 feet of pyroclastic mud and ash.
Historic monuments and city structures alike were encased in mud, heavily damaged or destroyed outright. In the days that followed, Montserrat's southern region was evacuated and an exclusion zone was created, which remains in place to this day.
Although it is a lush destination with diverse natural and cultural attractions, the Exclusion Zone has emerged as Montserrat's tourist attraction, and visitors can arrange to tour the buried former capital of Plymouth.
Further volcanic activity continued for years, and a 1997 flow of pyroclastic ash killed 19 residents (the only deaths attributed to the volcano). Although two-thirds of Montserrat's residents left in the intervening years, residents have largely returned, and tourism and government officials are working to rebuild the boutique Caribbean travel destination business the island enjoyed prior to the eruption.
The Tourism Division recently launched a survey tool to capture visitor sentiments and generate "more accurate estimates of their expenditure," said Rosetta West-Gerald, product development officer. "This will allow us to better understand both the positive or negative impacts of our product offerings and make adjustments where necessary," she said.
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