Strong cruise growth has helped the tiny island of Montserrat to reach a significant tourism milestone.
For the first time since the eruption of Montserrat’s Soufriere Hills Volcano in 1995, Montserrat welcomed more than 20,000 cruise and stayover visitors last year, according to Montserrat tourism officials.
That number was driven by a 59 percent increase in cruise visits; stayover arrivals grew by two percent in the same period.
“We’re thrilled that we’ve been able to surpass the threshold of 20,000 visitors,” said Montserrat Director of Tourism, Warren Solomon. “It tells us that we’re on the right track with our marketing initiatives and that if we are able to be consistent in our delivery, we could continue the growth trend.”
Montserrat’s Tourism Division said it was confident that its product development initiatives, some of which include enhancements to the trail network and beach facilities, service training in the tourism sector and the construction of a Volcano Interpretive Centre, would stimulate increased activity and spending by visitors to the island.
“We recently launched a new survey tool that will capture both the sentiments of our visitors, as well as more accurate estimates of their expenditure,” said Product Development Officer, Rosetta West-Gerald, “This will allow us to better understand both the positive or negative impacts of our product offerings and make adjustments where necessary.”
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