Above: Grand Cayman (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Tourist arrivals to the Cayman Islands surged in 2013, according to data released this week by the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

The Cayman Islands received a total of 345,387 stopover visitors in 2013, a 7.4 percent increase over 2012.

That was the second-largest increase of any Caribbean tourism destination with complete 2013 reporting, followed by Aruba.

Cayman’s 2013 growth was driven by strong performances from two areas: Europe and non-traditional source markets like South America.

European arrivals to Cayman rose to 27,813, an increase of 30 percent, while arrivals from areas outside of the US, UK and Canada, the vast majority of which are South American arrivals, rose by 24.1 percent.

In 2012, the Cayman Islands received 321,650 tourists, itself a 4.1 percent increase over the previous year.