Cayman seems well on track to record its strongest year ever in Canadian stayover tourism. This defies a slowdown taking place in other markets.
Many Caribbean destinations are witnessing declines in Canadian arrivals. However, Cayman is witnessing momentum moving in the opposite direction. November alone delivered a 16.1% year-over-year increase. This marks the fourth monthly record of 2025, while the December figures are still being tallied.
2024 witnessed the Cayman Islands welcoming 30,077 Canadian stayover visitors. In 2025, by November, arrivals had already reached 27,190. Mirroring December 2023, which reflected 4,300 Canadian visitors, Cayman was on track to surpass the previous high of 2024 a year later in 2025. Cayman’s best year on record for stayover tourism was 6 years back in 2019, when 30,128 Canadians visited.
In a broader context, these figures tend to be very striking. According to Statistics Canada, Canadian travel to the United States declined by nearly 22% year over year during the first half of 2025. This drop was due to political tensions, border scrutiny and shifting travel preferences, which dampened enthusiasm for cross-border trips.
At the same time, Canadians are tending to travel farther afield. As such, overseas trips increased by more than 10%, reflecting a spending increase of more than 28%. This growth was due to travellers tending to opt for fewer, longer and more expensive vacations.
However, in the Caribbean, that pivot has been uneven. Cuba witnessed a 21% decline, while the Dominican Republic witnessed more than 20% fewer Canadian visitors during the second quarter.
Other Caribbean locations witnessing declines in Canadians during 2025 were Jamaica, Barbados, Saint Lucia, Dominica, Anguilla, Grenada, St Vincent, the Grenadines, Bonaire, and Antigua & Barbuda. These declines were attributed to rising costs and changing vacation habits, besides competition from other regions.
Airlift is considered the main rationale behind Cayman’s growth. Direct non-stop flights from Toronto, and now also Ottawa, tend to restrict travel time to under 4 hours. This makes Cayman competitive with Florida. Canadians tend to associate uncertainty with U.S. travel.
