The surge of interest to travel to the Caribbean is real as travelers seek to relax on the sandy beaches and explore the reefs and luscious rainforests. From lively music, colorful carnivals and friendly locals, the melting pot which is Caribbean cuisine is also a major drawing point.
According to Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) officials, international arrivals in 2023 are near the same as 2019. For the first two months of this year, they trail the same period in 2019 by only one percent.
While the numbers are just slightly lower than pre-pandemic levels, the CHTA expects this year’s spring and summer to surpass 2019 levels. They are projecting spring travelers to be 20 percent higher than 2019 and summer arrivals to be close to 50 percent higher than the same period in 2019.
Arrivals from Europe and the Asia-Pacific are behind 2019 figures, but the CHTA cited data from research firm ForwardKeys that post-outbreak travel rebound far outpaces other global regions. During the first two months of 2023, European visitors are down 25 percent from 2019 and those from Asia-Pacific are 54 percent behind 2019 totals.
Some Caribbean nations posted double-digit visitor growth after looking at data for arrivals through the end of March. The U.S. Virgin Islands. saw an increase more than 22 percent compared with the same period in 2019, while St. Maarten posted an 18 percent visitor growth rate.
Guadeloupe and the Turks and Caicos both reported visitor increases of 17 percent and according to CHTA officials, Curacao has shown growth from the U.S. market.
Others not too far behind these countries seeing near double digit growth are Grenada and Antigua and Barbuda. Grenada in fact was among the three top destinations for U.S. visitor arrivals comparing 2023 to 2019, recording a 39 percent year-over-year arrival growth.
The numbers posted by Grenada may be a bit shocking considering its size, but even more impressive is that Curaçao saw U.S. visitor increase of 53 percent and Antigua and Barbuda one of 26 percent.