Curaçao had a tough year for tourism in 2016, according to the latest numbers from the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

The Dutch Caribbean island reported a total of 441,226 stayover visitors in 2016, a decline of 5.8 percent from 2015.

The decline was driven in large part by a decline in tourism from a traditional stronghold of Latin America, with arrivals outside of the US, Canada and Europe down by 17.5 percent.

Tourism from the United States also fell, however, showing a 3.3 percent reduction while Canadian tourism fell by 2 percent and European tourism increased by 4.4 percent.

While Curaçao hasn’t been a hotel development hub in recent years, the forward-thinking island has managed to attract significant new airlift, highlighted by new service from JetBlue.

And it remains one of the Caribbean’s more culturally fascinating destinations, led by the wonderful capital of Willemstad.

Here’s hoping for a boost in 2017.

– Caribbean Journal staff