The Turks and Caicos Islands welcomed and hosted some 1,069,497 million tourists to its shores in 2013, a 10.4 percent increase over 2012 totals of 968,370 according to official data analyzed by the Turks and Caicos Tourist Board. A complete assessment of the 1,069,497 million shows that 290,587 visitors were stop-over guest and 778,920 visitors came via cruise. Although the growth in the cruise sector was significant, a few known challenges at the Grand Turk Cruise Center in the early 2013 contributed to the port being closed thereby impeding greater growth in 2013. On the other hand, stop-over arrivals to the Turks and Caicos Islands in 2013 reflected a 0.4 percent decrease comparing arrivals of 291,723 in 2012 to 290,587 in 2013.

Stop-over arrivals to the destination via private aircraft reflected a slight increase when comparing arrivals in 2012 to 2013; however, stop-over arrivals via private aircraft were excluded from the statistical information for both years as the recordings lacked demographical details.

In the face of continued global economic challenges, restricting budgets and temporary closure of some of our major resorts, brand TCI has shown resilience and has perform on par with other destinations in the region.

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