Grace Bay, Long Bay. The Shore Club, Da Conch Shack. Middle Caicos and Pine Cay. Beaches and mangroves, cliffsides and reefs. One of the Caribbean’s biggest post-pandemic success stories is hotter than ever, as the Turks and Caicos Islands continues to experience a full-fledged tourism boom.
The Turks and Caicos Islands has welcomed 535.893 air arrivals so far this year, a 4.8 percent jump over the first 10 months of 2022 — and, even more significantly, an 18 percent increase over the same period in 2019, before the pandemic.
Adding in cruise arrivals, the destination has topped one million visitors so far this year.
“We are very pleased to see the increased number of visitors to the Turks and Caicos Islands by air and cruise for 2023. The Turks and Caicos Islands is renowned for its pristine turquoise waters and white sand beaches, world-class resorts and villas, culinary diversity, cultural experiences and natural beauty, ‘Beauty By Nature.’ The increased visitation demonstrates the Turks and Caicos Islands’ appeal for barefoot luxury and unique experiences,” said Turks and Caicos Tourism Minister Josephine Connolly. “As a multi-island destination, we are also diversifying the product experience and encouraging our visitors to experience the culture, heritage and activities for day tours and/or overnight stay beyond Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos.”
Indeed, Turks and Caicos’ so-called Sister Islands — the collection of cays and islands beyond traditional strongholds in Providenciales and Grand Turk — have seen strong growth and development in recent years, from islands like South Caicos, now home to the luxe Sailrock resort community to the private-island Ambergris Cay.
That’s along with traditionally popular stops like Dragon Cay in Middle Caicos and the Pelican Beach Hotel in North Caicos.
Turks and Caicos continues to be dominated by American visitors, who accounted for 434,343 arrivals so far this year, or about 81 percent of all arrivals — no surprise given the British Overseas Territory’s close proximity to the US mainland.
But travel continues to see growth from other markets, none more so than the United Kingdom, which just launched the first-ever flights to Turks and Caicos on Virgin Atlantic earlier this month.
The “increase in all source markets augurs well for the destination,” said Stacy Cox, CEO of the Turks and Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association.
Cox said that growth was already evident in Thanksgiving-week arrivals.