Region saw over 28 million visitors last year and the outlook for 2023 looks strong
IAN STALKER
Tourism in the Caribbean is recovering faster than it is in other parts of the planet, with some Caribbean destinations actually seeing 2022 tourism arrivals top pre-pandemic levels, and further growth is expected this year, the Caribbean Tourism Organization reports.
A March 7 CTO update on the state of Caribbean tourism reported that some destinations actually saw more visitors last year than they did in 2019, with the Dutch Caribbean among destinations doing particularly well.
Those that saw a greater number of arrivals in 2022 than they did in 2019 included the Dominican Republic, St. Maarten, Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico and Curacao.
“By the end of 2022, there were 28.3 million registered visitors in the Caribbean, approximately 52.4% more than there were in 2021,” acting CTO secretary general Neil Walters said.
The 28.3 million figure was 88.6% of 2019’s number, with Walters labelling 2019 a “baseline” year for “typical” Caribbean tourism.
The recovery isn’t uniform, with some countries seeing a slower recovery than others, and a chaotic situation in Haiti leading to that country unsurprisingly seeing fewer visitors.
The U.S. Virgin Islands saw a slight decrease.
Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s Council of Ministers and Commissioners of Tourism, Kenneth Bryan noted that the outlook for 2023 looked promising.
“Although we have not yet surpassed 2019’s numbers across the board in every jurisdiction, the needle is certainly moving in the right direction,” he said.
In all, CTO officials predict that 31.2 million to 36.2 million people will take a Caribbean vacation this year, with the total figure possibly topping 2019’s number.
The cruise industry is also seeing a strong recovery, with Walters reporting 32 to 33 million people are expected to visit the region on cruise ships this year. Last year saw the Caribbean host 19.2 million cruise passengers.
Last year’s Caribbean hotel occupancy rate was 60.7%, up from 44.7% the previous year.
The Canadian market’s recovery last year lagged behind the the rates with which the U.S. and European markets bounced back, with the CTO suggesting that federal government travel restrictions hindered interest in this country in vacationing in the Caribbean.
Ottawa’s lifting international travel restrictions last fall was quickly followed by increased Canada visitations to the Caribbean.
In all, 2.1 million of us vacationed in the Caribbean last year, 60% of 2019’s figure.
The CTO is warning that there are still obstacles to a full Caribbean tourism recovery, among them inflation, international political tensions and a possible resurgence of Covid.
As well, at times challenges to air travel within the Caribbean, something long blamed for hampering Caribbean tourism, have worsened since the onset of Covid, according to the CTO.
