Above: Dominica (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

International tourist arrivals to the Caribbean region are projected to reach 30 million by the year 2030, according to the Tourism Towards 2030 forecast from the UN World Tourism Organization.

The Caribbean received a total of 21 million tourist arrivals in 2012.

That was announced this week at the 55th Meeting of the UNWTO Commission for the Americas, which is being held in San Jose, Costa Rica.

This year, the Caribbean’s tourism sector is outperforming both 2011 and 2012, according to recent UNWTO data.

Last year, the Americas as a whole saw the biggest increase of any global region, according to the UNWTO, with a 7 percent increase in tourism receipts.

“It is encouraging to see that the growth in international tourist arrivals was equalled by a comparable increase in spending in spite of continued economic challenges” said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai. “Considering that tourism is a key export for many economies around the world, this result is good news as it provides foreign reserves to destinations, and contributes to job creation in tourism as well as in related economic sectors.”