Grenada has posted a 19 percent increase in cruise and stay-over visitors for 2014, compared to 2013.
Cruise is one of five main market niches for Grenada, with three ports of entry for cruise ships. According to the Grenada Tourism Authority, 156 cruise calls brought 235,140 passengers to the island last year, contributing more than 26 million Eastern Caribbean dollars to the economy.
Grenada and Carriacou welcomed a total of 11 inaugural cruise calls, and two calls during the months of July and September after a long hiatus.
There were 133,521 stay-over visitors in 2014, an increase of 18.4 percent or 20,709 in real terms when compared to 2013.
Visitors came to Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique mostly for leisure, vacation, visiting family or friends, weddings, honeymoons, or business. The majority of persons that came last year for weddings and honeymoons were from the U.S., while 90 percent of the visitors who came for business and conventions were from the Caribbean.