Page 8 - Special Issue Asutil Conference 2025

INSIDER

Caribbean Tourism maintains strong growth in 2024, surpassing

pre-pandemic levels

The Caribbean tourism sector followed by St. Maarten with 48% occupancy rates reaching 66.6%, a 0.8%
continued its robust recovery and growth, and the U.S. Virgin Islands at increase from the previous year, and the
expansion in 2024, with international 41.8% growth. Average Daily Rate (ADR) increasing by
tourist arrivals reaching an estimated 4.2% to US$437.02.
34.2 million, according to a new report Source Markets:
from the Caribbean Tourism Organization The United States remained the top Challenges and Outlook:
(CTO). source market, with approximately 16.8 “Tourism in the Caribbean is
This represents a 6.1% increase million arrivals, a 3.5% increase from expected to continue growing in 2025.
compared to 2023, and a 6.9% rise above 2023 and 7.9% above pre-pandemic However, due to prevailing economic
pre-pandemic levels, marking the second levels. uncertainties and slowdowns in major
consecutive year that the region has Canadian arrivals reached 3.3 source markets during the first quarter
outperformed the 2019 benchmark. million, a 4.0% increase compared to of the year, the pace of growth is
The “Caribbean Tourism 2023, though still slightly below 2019 projected to be more moderate than
Performance Review 2024” highlights the levels. earlier forecasts suggested,” said Aliyyah
region’s resilience and enduring appeal, European arrivals showed slower Shakeer, CTO’s Director of Research.
driven by factors such as strong demand growth, with a 1.4% increase to 5.3 CTO now anticipates that overnight
from the United States, a rebounding million, representing 89.4% of 2019 visitor arrivals will increase by 2% to
Canadian market, and enhanced air levels. 5%, reaching approximately 35 million.
connectivity, says the CTO. Driven by ongoing efforts to The outlook for the cruise sector remains
enhance air connectivity and services positive, with cruise arrivals expected
Key Highlights from the Report: across the region, intra-Caribbean travel to grow by 5% to 7%, approaching 36
Overall Growth: The Caribbean experienced growth in 2024. Residents million visitors.
saw approximately 34.2 million of the Caribbean took an estimated 1.6 “The Caribbean’s continued growth
international tourist arrivals (overnight million tourist trips within the region – is a testament to the strength of our
visitors) in 2024, an increase of 6.1% an increase of 5.1% over 2023, though regional collaboration and the enduring
over 2023 and 6.9% over 2019. still only 79.2% of pre-pandemic levels appeal of our destinations,” said Dona
Top Arrivals: The Dominican recorded in 2019. Regis-Prosper, Secretary-General of the
Republic remained the Caribbean’s most The South American market saw Caribbean Tourism Organization.
visited destination in 2024, welcoming the highest growth in 2024, with arrivals “Despite geopolitical uncertainty
8.5 million tourists. Jamaica was second reaching 2.0 million by the end of the and global economic challenges, our
with 2.9 million arrivals, followed by year, marking a 17.8% increase. This sector has shown remarkable resilience.
Cuba (2.2 million), The Bahamas (1.9 sustained growth led to a 19.7% rise To maintain this momentum, we must
million), Aruba (1.4 million), and Puerto compared to 2019’s arrivals. Improved double down on strategic investments,
Rico (1.0 million). Collectively, these six political and economic stability, along innovative partnerships, and sustainable
destinations accounted for approximately with strong travel demand in key markets practices that protect our people, our
56% of all visitor arrivals to the region. like Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia, culture and our environment. The future
YOY Growth: The highest year- contributed to these results. of Caribbean tourism is not only bright –
over-year growth in tourist arrivals was it is ours to shape,” she added.
recorded in Montserrat, which saw a Cruise Sector: The Caribbean
29.4% increase, followed by St. Vincent cruise industry experienced a significant
& the Grenadines (27.2%), Belize rebound, with 33.7 million cruise visits in
(22.8%), and Curaçao (20.3%). 2024, a 10.3% increase over 2023, and a
Pre-pandemic Growth: Compared 10.9% increase over pre-pandemic levels.
to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, Curaçao
emerged as the best-performing Hotel Sector: The Caribbean hotel
destination with a 51.1% increase, sector also performed strongly, with

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