The Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao reported just under 31,000 stayover visitors in August, according to data from the Curaçao Hotel and Tourism Association. 

That represented about 79 percent of the pre-pandemic, August 2019 stay over totals, according to the organization. 

That was a positive sign, officials said, given that August 2019 was a very strong month that included the Curaçao North Sea Jazz Festival. 

“With over 30,000 stayover arrivals for August, there is now great momentum in our tourism recovery,” said Paul Pennicook, CEO of the Curacao Tourist Board. “On a year to date basis we are almost even with 2020 arrivals and as this trend continues we will have positive growth over 2020 in a matter of days.”

That said, the island continues to struggle to see slow growth out of the all-important United States market. 

Of the nearly 31,000 total visitors, 22,770 came from Europe, and just 4,349 visitors came from the United States. 

— CJ