by Brian Major
Last updated: 1:25 PM ET, Mon January 29, 2024
The Turks and Caicos Islands’ 2023 air arrivals were with
significantly higher year-over-year. The archipelago hosted 662,707 land-based visitors
last year, representing significant growth over 2022, 2021 and pre-pandemic
2019, said officials at Experience Turks and Caicos, the country’s destination
management organization.
The country’s 2023 totals represent a 6.56 percent
increase over 2022 air arrivals, a 52.38 percent increase over 2021 arrivals and
a 21.62 percent increase over 2019 arrivals, officials said in a statement.
Turks and Caicos cruise tourism also showed growth in
2023. The Grand Turk Cruise Centre hosted 924,250 guests in 2023, a 25.84
percent increase over 2022.
The destination’s 2023 cruise visitor arrivals trail its 2019
cruise figures by 16.85 percent. Josephine Connolly, the Turks and Caicos’ minister
of tourism, “expressed optimism for ongoing momentum” in the country’s cruise segment,
officials said.
“Our primary objective is to increase visitation from the
affluent, luxury lifestyle, multi-generational market to increase spend
throughout all our islands,” Connolly said.
In all, the country hosted more than 1.5 million air arrivals and cruise visitors in 2023, officials said.
In 2024, Connolly said Experience Turks and Caicos will
focus on “the diversification of our tourism product to embrace our sister
islands, thereby ensuring that our local population benefits from the tourism
industry, Connolly said.
The organization will also work to “promote tourism
development that is socially, economically, environmentally, and culturally
sustainable in the long term,” she added.
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