Tourism Summary Data

May 2002

Data from the Port of Sandy Ground are not included for May 2001/2002.

There were 7,860 visitor arrivals to Anguilla in May 2002. This represents an increase of 16.8% from the 6,727 visitor arrivals recorded in May 2001. Comparison with previous years are also encouraging, as the May 2002 total represents the highest number of May visitor arrivals since 1999. The year to date total, however, shows a decline of 2.6% compared to the first five months of 2001.

The increase in May visitor arrivals was primarily driven by excursionist arrivals. There were 4,083 excursionist arrivals during the month. This represents an increase of 47.8% from the 2,762 excursionist arrivals recorded in May 2001. The year to date total is also encouraging, having increased by 12.1% relative to the same period in 2001.

Tourist arrivals continue to perform sluggishly. There were 3,777 tourist arrivals to Anguilla in May 2002. This represents a decline of 4.7% from the 3,965 tourist arrivals recorded in May 2001. On a positive note, however, this was the smallest of the monthly declines recorded for 2002 relative to the corresponding months last year. The year to date figures show tourist arrivals to be down by 12.4% compared to the first five months of 2001.

The United States continues to be Anguilla’s major source of visitors. In May 2,416 tourists and 1,495 excursionists came from the United States. This represents 63.9% of tourist visitors and 36.6% of excursionists, respectively. It should be noted, however, that the number of tourist arrivals from the United States in May 2002 decreased relative to the 2002 first quarter arrivals. This is primarily a reflection of the seasonality which characterises tourism demand from Northern markets in general. On the other hand, tourist arrivals from other Caribbean Islands increased in importance to 18% in May compared to 11% for the first quarter of this year.

Detailed tourism statistics tables are available from the Anguilla Government web site or by calling the Government Statistics Office at 497-3901.