Travel in the Caribbean in 2023 has “started with a bang” and, barring any unforeseen “catastrophes,” the Caribbean Tourism Organization expects the resurgence that started last year to continue a reach pre-pandemic arrivals levels “and beyond” in near future.

“It’s clearly apparent that even in the face of the devastating blows delivered by the pandemic, as a region, we have responded with hope, strength, and determination to prevail,” CTO chair Kenneth Bryan stated during a Zoom press conference from Barbados to deliver the region’s 2022 “Tourism Performance and Outlook Report.”

More than 28 million people visited the region in 2022, a more than 50% jump compared with the previous year and nearly 90% of pre-pandemic levels in 2019, according to the CTO.

Bryan added, “Great strides have been made and many of our jurisdictions ended 2022 registering higher than predicted visitor arrivals. That is a clear indication that the sector is bouncing back, and hopes are high that the robust pace of recovery will continue into 2023 and beyond.”

Last year, the US market drove more than 50% of arrivals to the region with 14.6 million US tourists visiting — three million more than the previous year – and the number of European visitors nearly doubled to 5.2 million.

However, visits from Canada did not rebound as expected, with some 2.1 million reported.

Neil Walters, CTO’s acting secretary general, noted that in 2022, Canadian outbound travel was “difficult” due to tight travel restrictions resulting from Omicron at the start of the year, which were only fully lifted in October – after which the number of trips taken by Canadians each month was closer to pre-pandemic levels.

Canada’s diminished arrivals in 2022 amounted to 7.2% of total arrivals to the region, and only 60% of pre-pandemic totals.

All together, however, the Caribbean region had one of the quickest worldwide recovery rates in 2022, Walters said.

While all 25 CTO member countries, with the exception of Haiti, showed significant gains, six islands and countries – Turks and Caicos, Curacao, St. Martin, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and the US Virgin Islands – surpassed total pre-pandemic arrival numbers. And just over half (14) boasted at least one or more months that surpassed the same month in 2019, while a third of the remainder recovered 80% of their pre-pandemic numbers.

The number of cruise ship visitors also soared last year, with 19.2 million visits reported, five times compared with the previous year, though still short of the record 30.4 million visits announced in 2019. In 2023, cruising is anticipated to contribute 32 to 33 million cruise passenger visits – a five to 10% increase over the pre-COVID baseline figure – as more cruise ships return to the region.

Bryan said tourism officials expect overall (non-cruise) arrivals to the Caribbean to increase by 10 to 15% this year, possibly surpassing pre-pandemic levels. A record 32 million people visited the Caribbean in 2019, a number that dropped by 65% the following year when the pandemic began.

And while a host of global pressures, from inflation to rising energy costs and the war in Ukraine to the risk of new COVID variants, is still worrying tourism leaders, Bryan noted that the World Travel and Tourism Council has forecast 5.5% annual growth for the Caribbean over the next 10 years, and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is predicting Caribbean economic growth of 5.7% in 2023, based in part on the continued revival of tourism.

“So, although we have not yet surpassed 2019’s numbers across the board in every jurisdiction,” Bryan concluded, “the needle is certainly moving in the right direction.”