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English Harbour, Antigua: the destination hosted 331,000 overnight visitors in 2024


Caribbean arrivals surge past pre-Covid records


Analysis: Land and cruise figures show region’s enduring appeal, reports Ian Taylor


Tourism to the Caribbean almost returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2022 and surpassed them in 2023, at the same time as cruise arrivals set new records. Travel to many islands never


halted during the pandemic. Covid restrictions introduced from March 2020 meant much of the winter 2019- 20 season was unaffected and the US, the Caribbean’s biggest source market, lifted its Covid travel ban in late 2021. By 2022, the region was almost


back to 2019 visitor levels with 21.2 million arrivals, against


64 28 AUGUST 2025


23.8 million three years prior, rising to 24.3 million in 2023 and 25.5 million last year, according to Caribbean Tourism Organisation figures which include the US island of Puerto Rico. The numbers are even more


remarkable given a collapse in arrivals to Cuba, which recorded 2.2 million visitors last year, less than half the 4.7 million it drew in 2018. The island saw a 73% drop in Spanish visitors and 83% fall in Italian visitors amid reported shortages of water and essential supplies at hotels. But key to the decline were renewed


US travel restrictions from 2019 followed by Washington’s designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism in 2021, excluding visitors to the island from entering the US on an Esta. On top of record overnight visitors


to the Caribbean, cruise association Clia reported a record 15 million cruise passengers in the region in 2024, up from 12 million in 2019. Cruise passenger visits per island rose to 32.8 million last year, up


Continued on page 62 travelweekly.co.uk


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PICTURE: Shutterstock/Sean Pavone


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