The Cayman Islands welcomed 15,303 stayover visitors in September 2026 up 18.4% when compared with September 2025 – the highest rate of monthly growth so far for 2026 and continuing the destination’s positive growth trajectory with eleven consecutive months of visitation growth.
Stayover arrivals between January and September reached 376,495 – an increase of 11.3% or 38,110 additional visitors when compared to the same period in 2025 driven by growth from the United States and Canada.
In September 2026 41,305 cruise passengers visited the Cayman Islands, an increase of 10% over the same period in 2025.
Combined visitation from stayover visitors and cruise passengers between January and September 2026 reached 1,193,794 an increase of 6.4% continuing the trend of growth across all segments of visitor category highlighting consistent demand for the Cayman Islands amongst both stayover and cruise visitors.
“Reaching eleven consecutive months of growth is an encouraging milestone, but what is especially significant is the consistency of that performance,” said Hon. Gary Rutty, Deputy Premier and Minister for Tourism and Trade Development. “Tourism is a year-round industry for the Cayman Islands, and maintaining strong visitor demand beyond our traditional peak season is important for the businesses and workers whose livelihoods rely on it. September’s impressive results give us further reason for optimism, and as we approach the final quarter of the year, our priority is to build on these gains and ensure that our tourism industry continues to deliver meaningful economic growth for the Cayman Islands.”
United States Leads September Growth
The United States led visitation growth for September with 11,674 visitors up 22.8% representing approximately 91% of the net increase in visitors over 2025.
This growth was driven by an increase in travellers from Florida including the Tampa-St. Petersburg and Miami-Fort Lauderdale areas underpinned by the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism’s (CIDOT) geotargeted advertising strategy focused on reaching travellers in zip codes with a higher propensity to travel.
Canada Emerges as a Key Driver of Tourism Growth
Canada continues to be one of the Cayman Islands’ strongest-performing source markets in 2026, with year-to-date visitation increasing 41% over 2025 levels and contributing approximately 24% of the destination’s total visitor growth. The continued expansion of the market reflects the effectiveness of CIDOT’s targeted marketing strategy and ongoing investment in media, public relations and trade initiatives designed to build demand and strengthen destination awareness.
Latin America Continues Steady Growth
Arrivals from Latin America were up 2.2% when compared to September 2025. January – September arrivals were up 6.8% over the same period in 2025.
UK and European Market Visitation Trends Positive Trend Year to Date
Visitation from the UK & Ireland continued to pace above 2025 with January - September arrivals up 5.7% over the same period in 2025.
Visitation from Continental Europe was up 9.5% over September 2025, with January – September arrivals increasing by 21% over the same period in 2025.
Increased Visitor Arrivals Boost Accommodations Sector
September’s visitation delivered strong commercial results for the Cayman Islands’ accommodation sector.
According to global hotel intelligence firm STR Inc., The Average Daily Rate (ADR) for hotels rose 9.1% and the Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) increased 32.8%. Hotel occupancy reached 31.4% in September 2026, an increase of 6.0 percentage points compared with September 2025.
Year-to-date through September, occupancy rose by 6.0 percentage points compared to the previous year while ADR increased by 5.6% and RevPAR rose by 16.3% year-over-year.
Hotel room revenue between January and September increased by 19.0% compared to the same period in 2025. September marked the eleventh consecutive month of hotel room revenue growth, reflecting sustained demand for the destination and generating increased economic benefits for tourism businesses, their employees and the wider Cayman Islands economy.
“Continuous growth, particularly through a period that has traditionally been one of the quieter times of the year for travel, is a testament to the strength of the Cayman Islands’ tourism strategy and the disciplined execution of our strategic playbook,” said Rosa Harris, Director of Tourism.
She continued, “This success reflects the focused efforts of CIDOT’s team in the Cayman Islands and across our international markets to stimulate demand year-round, protect and expand airlift, engage high-value travellers through targeted, data-driven marketing, and strengthen relationships with our airline, travel trade and media partners. The continued growth we are seeing across our source markets demonstrates that our long-term approach to market diversification and demand generation is delivering tangible results. For the rest of 2026, we will work hand in hand with our tourism stakeholders and execute our plans with focus and purpose to attract our target visitors, grow demand from our target visitors and ensure the Cayman Islands remains one of the most sought-after destinations in the Caribbean."
To learn more about how tourism drives economic growth across the Cayman Islands, the public is encouraged to follow the Chamber of Commerce’s Tourism Matters series.