Fewer Canadians are traveling to the Caribbean this year, according to the latest data from the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

After rising 4.5 percent last year, Canadian tourist arrivals to the Caribbean have declined by 3.7 percent compared to the first half of 2015.

That represented a total of 2.1 million Canadian visitors so far this year.

In a statement, the CTO said that was “attributed to the depreciation of the Canadian dollar with respect to the US dollar,” although it is likely that Zika was a factor as well.

With that said, a number of destinations saw positive growth in Canadian arrivals, including Turks and Caicos, Suriname, Barbados, Curacao, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, St. Maarten and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, led by Turks and Caicos at 24.9 percent growth.

Ontario remains the number one source market for the Caribbean within Canada, accounting for 61 percent of Canadian visitors to the region, followed by Quebec at 11 percent.

– Caribbean Journal Staff