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Arrivals to St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the first five months of 2019 have increased by 7.1 percent. Provisional figures for the period January to May show that 232,916 visitors came to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. In 2018, the destination saw 217,453 visitors, marking an increase of 15,463 visitors to the destination.
Arrivals by air also increased by 7.1 percent, with a total of 36,757 in 2019 compared with 34,335 in 2018, or a difference of 2,486 stay-over visitors. The greatest increase in stay-over arrivals came from the Canadian market at 16.9 percent. The U.S. market and UK market saw an increase of 11.4 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
Yacht arrivals grew by 7.6 percent during the months of January to May, with a total of 37,926 yacht visitors for the five-month period in 2019 compared with 35,240 for the same period in 2018. A total of 158,233 cruise visitors arrived in the destination for the same period, registering an increase of 7.0 percent over the 147,878 cruise visitors for the comparable period last year.
Following the launch of the Argyle International Airport in February 2017, three international carriers have been operating weekly nonstop flights to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Earlier this month, American Airlines announced a second weekly flight to the AIA from December 2019, when the airline will operate the current Saturday service along with a Wednesday service.
The American Airlines nonstop service to the Argyle International Airport will complement Caribbean Airlines’ weekly Wednesday nonstop service from JFK International, USA and Air Canada Rouge’sweekly Thursday nonstop service from Pearson International, Canada. Air Canada Rouge will again operate a second weekly Sunday nonstop service for the winter season commencing December 15, 2019.