MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falkland Islands: 64,000 visitors this year predicts Tourist Board

Cathedral Anglican Church in downtown Stanley with its whalebone arch to the right.

VISITOR arrivals in 2011 including inbound overnight tourists, cruise passengers and domestic tourists are expected to total almost 64,000, spending £6.85 million, according to the Falkland Islands Tourist Board forecast for the first quarter of 2011.

Further cheering news is that 50% of cruise ship visitors last season said they had visited the Islands before and almost one quarter (24%) stated that the Falkland Islands were an “essential” or “very important” factor in their cruise itinerary decision.

Over one quarter said they would like to return to the Islands on a land-based tour.

Speaking of the Falklands forecast statistics Tourist Board General Manager Paul Trowell noted cautiously that tourism was affected by a wide range of external events such as conflict and security, health issues, environmental legislation and economic climate, and while some of these can be predicted, others cannot.

He said, “The current oil exploration programmes in the Falkland Islands provide a good example of this, and their success (or otherwise) will have a significant impact on future tourist demand (leisure, business and other) in the Islands.”

Mr Trowell said the Islands receive a relatively small number of international visitors and consequently small changes in demand generate large year-on-year percentage increases or decreases.

While bearing that in mind, the outlook appears cheerful. Tourist arrivals to the Falklands are expected to increase by 16 per cent in 2011 with an increase of three
per cent in the number of leisure visitors. Over 7,000 overnight tourists are expected to visit the Islands, spending over £4.1 million.

Cruise passenger arrivals are expected to total around 43,000 during the 2011/12 season, an increase of six per cent compared to the 2010/11 season.

Domestic tourism is forecast to grow in 2011, albeit at a moderately low rate of two per cent, and will generate over 13,800 trips and £1.19 million in expenditure.

Cruise season

Looking back over the 2010/11 cruise season the report notes the cruise season closed with a total of 40,542 passenger arrivals.

Compared to the 2009/10 season, the number of cancellations was few (only four vessels with a total of 2,659 passengers), however the numbers were still down compared to 2009/10 when 48,359 passengers arrived in the Islands.

Almost £1.4 million was spent in the Islands by cruise passengers, with 43% of that being spent on tours, 38% on shopping and 16% on food and drink.

Air arrivals

There were 6,000 tourist arrivals in 2010, up 43 per cent from 4,200 in 2009, however this growth was driven by oil ‘transit’ arrivals. Averages spend per arrival increased by 20 per cent (or £100) to £595 in 2010.

World wide

International tourist arrivals grew by close to five per cent during the first months of 2011, consolidating the seven per cent rebound registered in 2010, said the report.

According to UNWTO, growth was positive in all world regions during January and February 2011, with the exception of the Middle East, and North Africa.

South America and South Asia led growth (both at 15 per cent plus) followed by Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Eastern Europe.

Worldwide, international tourist arrivals surpassed 124 million in the first two months of 2011, up from 119 million in the same period of 2010, with emerging economies continuing to grow at a faster pace than advanced ones.

Outbound travel from the UK has declined significantly over the past three years.

There are as yet no signs of a robust rebound but figures for the first three months of 2011 reveal that Brits took 11,000 more outbound trips than during the same period of last year, suggesting some degree of stability.

This year in the United States baby boomers will celebrate their 65th birthdays at a rate of 10,000 people a day. They also have a deep thirst for experience, said the report, and that holds true across all income levels.

Boomers will value the expertise of travel consultants who can help them craft the fantastic experiences they want.

Resorts in far-flung places and higher spending are among trends in luxury travel for 2011.

After a couple of poor years, recent research shows that spending on travel is up again especially in the luxury market. (Penguin News)