Curacao has set an all-time record for tourist arrivals, Caribbean Journal has learned. 

The island welcomed just under 490,000 visitors in 2022, a new record for annual visitation. 

It was a remarkable turnaround for an island that saw a slow start to the year – and had initially projected around 375,000 visitors. 

Of course, everything changed in June, when the new Sandals Royal Curacao debuted, and things were never the same. 

In a month, Curacao had already reached a new record for tourist arrivals from the United States, a market that had always presented a challenge for the island. 

Overall, the island reported 90,000 visitors from the United States last year, its highest total in history. 

Indeed, July 2022 was the best-performing month of the year, when 48,246 visitors came to the island. 

It was the best year since 2015, when the island saw its previous record of stayover arrivals at 278,468. 

“The focus in 2023 is to continue to work in close collaboration with all the stakeholders to outperform the 2022 performance,” the Curacao Tourist Board said in a statement. 

The ultimate objective, officials said, is to eclipse the half-million arrivals mark by the end of 2023.