The Caribbean remains one of the most coveted and appealing regions for tourists, especially after the post-Covid recovery demonstrated by an increase in international arrivals by 1% out of four.
This is according to ForwardKeys, a travel market research, big data in tourism, and business intelligence firm, which analyzed the Caribbean’s top destinations by looking at international visitor arrivals during the first half of 2023 compared to 2019.
The data reveals promising growth across the region, with some countries and territories bouncing back in a big way, such as the Virgin Islands becoming the best-performing destination by achieving 23% more international arrivals.
The Turks and Caicos Islands with 19%, Saint Maarten with 14%, and Jamaica and Guadeloupe with 13%.
Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic figures an impressive 12% increase, Curaçao with 11%, and Martinique, Puerto Rico, and Aruba with 10% each.
However, the platform indicates that the islands would benefit even more if they had better connectivity.
“However, limited air capacity remains one of the main looming growth issues in some emerging markets in the Caribbean,” said Olivier Ponti, vice president of Insights at ForwardKeys.
“While avid U.S. travelers interested in enjoying the wonders of the Caribbean have a wide variety of flights from the continental U.S. to most Caribbean tourist spots, travelers from South America generally have to connect at regional hubs to reach their destination of choice,” he added.
He further said that “in this context, ForwardKeys has uncovered the growth of Panama City as a gateway to the Caribbean for travel from South America, while Miami, on the other hand, is losing market share,” according to a statement.