Barbados: ICC T20 World Cup results in 78.5% surge in number of visitors

Barbados: Barbados witnessed a huge surge in the number of visitors for the month of June 2024, marking 78.5% of the island nation’s highest-ever increase. As per the reports, the hosting of the ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup 2024 final in Barbados has played a huge role in attracting larger number of visitors to the country.

This data was unveiled by the Central Bank, who did not share the specific revenue figures earned from the tournament. But, Anton Belgrave, the Central Bank’s director of research and economic analysis described the impact created in the economic department as “transformative.”

While shedding light on the benefits earned in different sectors of the country, Belgrave noted that accommodation industry has witnessed significant development.

As per the data unveiled by the Central Bank, the hotel occupancy rates reached 54.8% in June 2024 which resulted in creating a growth of 9.6% as compared to the last year. Along with that, the Hotel revenue per available room also witnessed a surge of 63.3% while the hotel occupancy within the sharing economy increased by 7.7% points.

“We talked about the revenue per available room which has marked up 11% alone for the hotels. You would have also seen a surge in the deposits of the hotel so that the hotel sector could have earned substantially from the second quarter period, inclusive of the World Cup performance,” noted Belgrave.

Moreover, the arrival of a larger number of cricket fans has also resulted in significant growth in the airlift capacity of the country. The airlift sector marked a surge of 24% with an additional 17807 seats in comparison to 2023. The increased in airlift capacity resulted in expanding tourist load factors to 53.5%, marking 4.2% points higher than the last year of the same period.

The report shared by the Central Bank also revealed that 19 teams competing in the World Cup visited Barbados and explored its vibrant offerings in June. According to the data, the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 brought around 9932 visitors to the country.

Along with that, the island nation welcomed around 49316 stay-over visitors to the country, resulted in creating 34.5% increase in comparison to June 2023.

On the arrival of the large number of tourists, the Central Bank stated that the global viewership of the World Cup has given huge and valuable exposure for the island nation. They further noted that this exposure will play a huge role in attracting large number of visitors to the country and enhance it as a premier destination for all the travellers.

They further noted that the investment made for the tournament are expected to benefit both local citizens and visitors for several years to come. The Central Bank remarked that the investment made can be used for creating several new avenues for tourism growth and economic development.