Caribbean tourism continues to outperform the rest of the global travel industry, according to newly-released data from the Barbados-based Caribbean Tourism Organization. 

International tourist arrivals to the Caribbean totaled 6.6 million in the first of 2021. 

That represented a 12 percent decline compared to the same period in 2020; through May, the Caribbean saw a 30.8 percent reduction for the same period — far better than the global average of a 65.1 percent decline in the same period. 

The first-half performance was buoyed by a second quarter surge, when overnight visits to the Caribbean jumped between 10 and 37 times greater than the same months in 2020. 

Overall, the CTO says the region is seeing “steady improvement.” 

Indeed, the one million visitors in April jumped to 1.2 million in May to 1.5 million in June, according to data from the CTO’s research department. 

“These are encouraging signs that the hard work our member countries have put into adapting to the changing environment of the pandemic is beginning to pay dividends,” said Neil Walters, the CTO’s acting secretary general. “Even as we embrace a recovery mindset and the opportunities the pandemic has given us, we must continue to be mindful of the challenges we currently face and the potential challenges a dynamic situation like the pandemic can present. The Caribbean tourism sector is known to be one of the most resilient in the world.”

— CJ