By Michael Baginski/   With Canadian visitations rebounding and a continued strong interest from the U.S., the Caribbean tourism sector is continuing robust recovery and expansion, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO).

The CTO, which kicked off its annual conference in conjunction with the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) in Antigua on Monday, reports that international tourist arrivals reached an estimated 34.2 million in 2024. This represents a 6.1% increase compared to 2023, and a 6.9% rise above pre-pandemic levels, marking the second consecutive year that the region has outperformed the 2019 benchmark.

(Ed note: Travel Industry Today is on the ground at the CHTA Caribbean Travel Marketplace event – stay tuned for further coverage).

Notably, Canadian arrivals reached 3.3 million, a 4.0% increase compared to 2023, though still slightly below 2019 levels, according to the CTO’s “Caribbean Tourism Performance Review 2024.”

With many Canadians looking for alternative destinations to U.S. sunspots like Florida, the region could be poised to top the 2019 benchmark in 2025.

Meanwhile, the Caribbean cruise industry experienced a significant rebound, with 33.7 million cruise visits in 2024, a 10.3% increase over 2023, and a 10.9% increase over pre-pandemic levels.

The Caribbean hotel sector also performed strongly, with occupancy rates reaching 66.6%, a 0.8% increase from the previous year, and the Average Daily Rate (ADR) increasing by 4.2% to US$437.02.

Other highlights from the report:

• Top Arrivals: The Dominican Republic remained the Caribbean’s most visited destination in 2024, welcoming 8.5 million tourists. Jamaica followed with 2.9 million arrivals, while Cuba (2.2 million), The Bahamas (1.9 million), Aruba (1.4 million), and Puerto Rico (1.0 million) reported top numbers. Collectively, these six destinations accounted for approximately 56% of all visitor arrivals to the region.
• YOY Growth: The highest year-over-year growth in tourist arrivals was recorded in Montserrat, which saw a 29.4% increase, followed by St. Vincent & the Grenadines (27.2%), Belize (22.8%), and Curaçao (20.3%). These destinations posted the strongest relative gains in visitor numbers across the Caribbean in 2024.
• Pre-pandemic Growth: Compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, Curaçao emerged as the best-performing destination with a 51.1% increase, followed by St. Maarten with 48% growth, and 41.8% in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“Tourism in the Caribbean is expected to continue growing in 2025. However, due to prevailing economic uncertainties and slowdowns in major source markets during the first quarter of the year, the pace of growth is projected to be more moderate than earlier forecasts suggested,” said Aliyyah Shakeer, CTO’s Director of Research.

CTO now anticipates that overnight visitor arrivals will increase by 2% to 5%, reaching approximately 35 million. The outlook for the cruise sector remains positive, with cruise arrivals expected to grow by 5% to 7%, approaching 36 million visitors.

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