Curacao is now “fully recovered” from the impact of the pandemic, tourism officials said this week. 

The Curacao Tourist Board is reporting 355,661 stayover visitor arrivals in the first three quarters of 2022, a 103 percent increase compared to the same period in 2019. 

That’s a jump from the 346,464 arrivals in January-September 2019. 

“With this information CTB proudly announce that pre-pandemic stayover arrivals have been fully recovered,” the tourist board said in a statement. 

“It is with great pleasure that we will reach the overall arrivals realized in the year 2019 by end of this year and even welcome a record-breaking number of stayover arrivals if the circumstances remain as is,” the board said. 

The growth was buoyed by a very strong September 2022 that saw 32,510 visitors. 

While Europe remains the predominant source market for the island, the US is, after many years, finally showing growth. 

Indeed, September arrivals from the United States were more than double what they were in the same month in 2019, strengthen no doubt by the entry of Sandals to the market over the summer, and the continued growth of Apple Leisure Group on the island. 

It was the fourth month in a row in which the island saw a new record for tourism out of America. 

“[We are] seeing great demand out of the US market,” the CTB said. “Curaçao now offers a greater pool of US branded resort hotels, which is reaping its benefit especially for the US market.”