Yachting sector generates around $200M annually in Antigua and Barbuda: Reports

Antigua and Barbuda: Chief Executive Officer of Falmouth Harbour Marina, Robert Reis announced that the yachting industry has become a major contributor to Antigua and Barbuda's overall tourism earnings. He said that the sector alone is generating around $200 million earnings annually. The development was announced by the CEO amid the country’s tourism industry experiencing a significant boost. He also reported that the country’s four other marinas have also reported a busy season thus far, which shows a surge in the yachting industry’s popularity among visitors. While sharing the development, CEO Reis said that this has been a superb year for the entire yachting sector and he has no complaints about how things are going.

He noted that there are many marinas in Antigua including the Antigua Yacht Club, the Nelson’s Dockyard Marina, the Catamaran Marina and Boathouse and the Falmouth Harbour Marina where yachts dock and enjoy various services.

In addition to this, the sources have revealed that the numbers for the economic effects of these marinas are based on a 1999 report from the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank which also includes a 2% increase annually.

The Falmouth Harbour Marina has spent over $10 million on fuel from the West Indies Oil Company in 2023 which was solely for the yachts and it also paid around $1.5 million to APUA for utility services.

Other than these expenses, yachting sector also spend huge amount of money on local services such as supermarkets. CEO Robert Reis said that all this expenditure contributes highly to the local economy and makes the marina industry an important part of Antigua’s tourism industry.

While citing an example, he said, “For example, we are getting a lot more mage-yachts, and these carry a large crew to take care of the owners and the vessels themselves.”

He added that these numbers average in several cases between 30 and 40 individuals who only eat at restaurants when they are in port and also rent two or three motor vehicles, which gives a boost to the local economy.