Cayman Islands Charts Record March Visitation

The Cayman Islands achieved its best month ever for land-based overnight visitation in March 2026, welcoming 64,213 visitors and surpassing 60,000 visitors for the first time in its recorded history.

The island’s total visitation for March, including both overnight and cruise passengers, totaled 221,731 visitors, reflecting an overall increase of 12.6 percent year over year.

Cayman’s record-breaking March was driven by double-digit increases from Canada, the U.K. and Ireland, Mexico and Argentina, with steady increases from the U.S. and Continental Europe.               

Total visitation for March – including both stayover visitors and cruise passengers - reached 221,731 visitors, reflecting an overall increase of 12.6% year over year.

March delivered an impressive performance across key markets with double-digit increases from Canada, the UK & Ireland, Mexico and Argentina and steady increases from the United States (US) and Continental Europe. In March, Canada drove the destination’s winter growth as it sustained record-breaking momentum with 6,711 visitors. This was a 49% increase over the same period in 2025 and surpassed the previous monthly visitation record set in February 2026.

Canada’ strong growth is the result of flight capacity increases from WestJet and Air Canada as well as new service on Porter Airlines from Toronto and Ottawa driven by demand resulting from the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism (CIDOT)’s marketing, advertising, and public relations efforts.

The UK & Ireland reported its second-highest March on record with a 32.2% increase in arrivals year-over-year while visitors from Mexico were up 33.2% year-over-year which can be attributed to the destination’s dedicated marketing, public relations and trade engagement in the marketplace, said CIDOT officials.

March 2026 was the strongest month on record for the United States with 53,050 visitors – a 6.0% increase year-over-year and a 3.2% increase over the previous high of March 2019. In the United States, CIDOT deployed a digital first advertising strategy for the winter with novel ways of building awareness amongst potential visitors from the northeast. This strategy included “Welcome to vaCay” ads triggered by a significant drop in weather which encouraged visitors to trade the cold weather for the warmth of winter in Cayman.

March’s standout results come on the heels of Cayman’s best winter ever with the destination welcoming 215,165 stayover visitors during the traditional four-month winter period supported by a record December (54,830), January (47,047) and the second-strongest February on record (49,075).

Since the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism (CIDOT)’s launch of the global, “Welcome to VaCay” creative platform and campaign, the Cayman Islands has seen accelerated growth in visitation as evidenced by the strong results of the 2025/2026 winter season.

“This record-breaking winter season underscores the strength of the Cayman Islands’ tourism strategy and the resilience of our destination,” remarked Gary Rutty, Deputy Premier and Minister for Tourism. “Exceptional growth from Canada and sustained increases in airlift demonstrate the confidence travelers continue to place in the Cayman Islands. These results deliver real economic benefits for our people.”

March’s strong tourism performance demonstrated higher visitation, and strong commercial results for the destination’s accommodation sector. According to global hotel intelligence firm STR Inc., hotel occupancy increased by 14.0% in March 2026 compared with March 2025, while average daily rate (ADR) rose by 5.5% and revenue per available room (RevPAR) increased by 20.3%.

Year-to-date through March, ADR was up 6.9% and RevPAR rose 15.3%, reinforcing tourism’s broader contribution to the wider economy.

“Achieving the best month ever and strongest winter for stayover visitation in the history of Cayman Islands tourism reflects the effectiveness of our data-driven marketing, travel agent and trade show engagement, public relations and air service route development efforts,” said Director of Tourism, Rosa Harris. “The department, in collaboration with tourism partners, now shifts to our seasonal efforts to deliver a vibrant summer offer and campaign to support the most critical visitation period for the destination.”

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