Annual Economic and Financial Review -December 2018

2018 Annual Economic and Financial Review

DOMESTIC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS

Montserrat and St Vincent and the Grenadines (2.2 per cent). Higher value added in the construction sector was moderated somewhat by lower activity in Saint Lucia, where a decline of 17.0 per cent was recorded, as major planned investment projects experienced implementation delays. Developments in the hotels and restaurants sector, a proxy for activity in the tourism industry, were marked by an estimated expansion of 2.1 per cent in value added in contrast to a marginal decline (0.1 per cent) in the previous year. On an individual territory basis, six countries recorded increases in tourism output, which more than offset declines in the remaining territories. The improved performance in the hotels and restaurants sector largely reflected growth in the total number of visitors to the Currency Union, particularly in the cruise ship and stay-over sub-categories. The number of cruise passengers, which represented 71.5 per cent of total visitor arrivals, grew by 9.4 per cent to 3.4m compared with growth of 12.1 per cent recorded in 2017. The improved performance in the cruise sub-sector stemmed from growth in arrivals in five member countries, notwithstanding an 8.4 per cent decline in the number of cruise ship calls to regional ports. (5.0 per cent))

The highest expansion in the cruise ship sub- category was noted in Saint Lucia, where arrivals grew by 13.6 per cent (91,089), supported by increases of 8.1 per cent (86,125) in St Kitts and Nevis, 7.4 per cent (56,582) in Antigua and Barbuda, 25.1 per cent (43,640) in St Vincent and the Grenadines and 14.5 per cent (43,397) in Grenada. The impact of these increases was mitigated by declines of 14.4 per cent (22,574) in Dominica and 39.8 per cent (2,834) in Montserrat. As a share of total cruise passenger arrivals to the region, St Kitts and Nevis represents 33.6 per cent, Antigua and Barbuda, 24.0 per cent and Saint Lucia, 22.1 per cent. Stay-over visitor arrivals rose by 2.5 per cent to 1.1m, an acceleration from the pace of expansion of 1.0 per cent recorded in 2017. The performance in this sub-category reflected growth in the number of visitors from all the major source markets. The number of stay-over visitors from the USA, the largest of this category, increased by 1.9 per cent in contrast to a decline of 0.4 per cent recorded in the prior year.

______________________________________________________________________________ 4 Eastern Caribbean Central Bank