The Caribbean has a new fastest-growing destination, according to the latest numbers from the Caribbean Tourism Organization: the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The TCI reported 17.5 percent growth in tourist arrivals in 2016, the highest of any destination in the Caribbean region.
That resulted in a total of 453,612 tourist arrivals in the archipelago.
It was driven by strong growth out of the United States, Canada and other international markets.
US traffic in particular rose by 16.1 percent, while Canadian tourism to the Turks and Caicos rose by 23.2 percent.
The former got a big boost thanks to the late 2015 launch of daily flights from Fort Lauderdale to Providenciales on JetBlue Airways.
The Shore Club.
The outlook for 2017 is strong too, thanks to the debut of several new hotels, led by the ultra-luxe Shore Club resort in Providenciales and the boutique Sailrock property on largely undeveloped South Caicos.
Sailrock on South Caicos.
The next fastest-growing destination was Belize, which posted growth of 13 percent and a total of 385,583 arrivals.
— Caribbean Journal Staff