An opposition political leader is calling for complete transparency from Grenada tourism officials, following reports of a more than 12 percent decline in visitor stayover arrivals.
Peter David also is challenging the government’s explanations and demanding detailed data to support their claims that factors, such as “high airlift cost’’ and “international developments that are happening right now’’, are to be blamed for the decline.
“We need transparency. The public deserves answers,’’ said David, a former Tourism Minister, who now leads D Movement.
“Did taxes and fees actually increase in 2025? If not, then high costs existed last year too, when arrivals were higher. Show us where costs rose this year.’’
According to Ciera Duncan, policy analyst in the Ministry of Finance, there have been “tremendous declines’’ in the tourism sector in comparison to the same period last year.
“This has resulted in an overall 12.5 percent decline in overall stayover arrivals as compared to the first five months of 2024,’’ said Duncan
She claimed that Hurricane Beryl also compounded difficulties in the tourism sector, as well as limited direct flights between regional destinations, leading to a “decline of Caribbean stayover arrivals by 16.6 percent’’.
David is questioning the validity of the factors cited for the tourism decline, pointing particularly to a critical flaw in the hurricane explanation.
“About Hurricane Beryl, yes, it was devastating in July 2024, but here’s important context. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines were also severely hit by Beryl,’’ he said. “The storm destroyed infrastructure across the Grenadine islands; yet, they reported double-digit growth in the first quarter of 2025. Same hurricane, different recovery strategy.’’
The drop-off in visitors coming to Grenada, including nearly 17 percent from the Caribbean, is concerning statistics, said David, whose political party is soon to be formally launched.
“These are significant declines across all major markets that deserve serious analysis, not surface explanations,’’ he said
D Movement, said David, is demanding specific data, including seat-versus-passenger ratios by route, actual load factors, marketing spending accountability, hotel occupancy rates, and forward booking data.
“If costs didn’t rise and flights didn’t fall, then the explanation lies elsewhere,’’ David emphasized. “Our tourism product remains world-class. What we need is leadership that faces facts, instead of offering excuses.”
David and members of D Movement maintain that, without an honest diagnosis of the root causes of the tourism decline, effective solutions remain impossible.
