Over 173,000 visitors in 2010

The Galapagos National Park recently reported that 173,296 people entered the Galapagos Islands as tourists in 2010 – a 6% increase over 2009. Of these 36% (61,574) were Ecuadorians, 27% ​​(46,093) from the USA, 5% (9045) from the United Kingdome and the others were from 140 other countries.   Other major origins include Canada, Germany and Italy.   Of these visitors, 46% (79,716) enjoyed a cruise and 44% (76,250) used hotel services, and 7% stayed with family and friends.    A small number of tourists did not specify their type of accommodations.  All this information is collected through the Transit Control Card (TCC) that a visitor must fill out when departing the continent for Galapagos (at a cost of $10). CNH Tours has calculated that if all cruise ships operated at 100% capacity, running 7 night cruises and not spending any time in dry dock (ships usually spend a few weeks each year undergoing maintenance), the maximum number of visitors they could accommodate would be about 90,000 in one year.   But because most ships run 3 and 4 night cruises, the actual total turnaround is likely closer to 125,000.   The 2010 numbers likely indicate an occupation rate for cruise ships of about 70%.