International travel is back in a big way, and the Caribbean is just one of many popular tourist destinations that has seen significant growth throughout 2023.
Many Caribbean countries are expected to reach record-high numbers of visitors by the end of this year, including an increase of at least 15 percent over 2019’s visitors.
While the majority of the Caribbean is experiencing a strong recovery from decreased tourist numbers over the past few years, the Dominican Republic stands out among the rest of the region as a top performer. It currently holds a 10 percent increase over 2019’s year-to-date visitors, and it is expected to spike to an impressive 54 percent growth over 2019 once its peak tourist season of the fourth quarter’s winter months is included.
The Dominican Republic’s overall accessibility to visitors from a larger percentage of the world is one likely factor in its strong performance. This country currently offers more flights to and from a wider range of destinations than other parts of the Caribbean, and it continues to add more flight options more frequently than many other popular routes.
Other Caribbean countries that are experiencing higher-than-average growth include the US Virgin Islands, Curacao, Turks and Caicos, and Aruba. Although a few countries are currently experiencing slightly lower numbers than they had at this time in 2019, such as Saint Lucia, St. Maarten, and the Bahamas, these regions are also predicted to surpass 2019 tourism numbers by at least 14 percent by the end of the fourth quarter.
Travel is up throughout the world as the last pandemic-related restrictions are being dropped at most destinations, making more options easier to reach, but a large percentage of the spike in visitors to the Caribbean region has been attributed to visitors from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.