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Passengers disembark from a cruise liner docked in Little Bay.
Passengers disembark from a cruise liner docked in Little Bay.

March Tourism Figures Up From 2015

Montserrat welcomed 676 more tourists to the island in March 2016 than in March 2015.

In the recently released March arrival figures from Statistics Department Montserrat, there were 2145 visitors, 206 more than in March of last year.

Statistics combines tourist and excursionist numbers to find the total number of visitors.

Total visitor expenditure was 5.3 million. Almost 2 million dollars more than in March 2015.

The report showed that total tourists numbers were 1790. The majority of the travellers came in by sea (1178) and 612 by air. Last year, there were 585 by sea and 529 by air.

Excursionist travel also increased, with 355 this year compared to 307 last March. Most of them arrived by sea with only 37 coming by air.

Visitors from the United Kingdom accounted for 551 of the people who arrived on island in March. The USA was next with 503 and OECS nationals 487.

Cruise ships brought in 907 passengers, up by 389 from March 2015. The three ships which visited were Star Legend, Serenissima and Liberty.

A total of 1332 stayed in private homes vs 559 in March 2015. Guest houses were the second option, providing accommodations for 278 people.

888 of the visitors identified leisure as their main reason for being on island. 691 said they were visiting friends and relatives.

Yachts brought in 265 passengers and crew in March of this year.

The higher numbers can be attributed to the growing popularity of the St. Patrick’s Festival held in March.