This Caribbean Island Is More Popular Than Ever With Americans
There have been some big travel success stories in the post-pandemic period. Antigua and Barbuda. The US Virgin Islands. Turks and Caicos. The Bahamas.
When it comes to the American market, one island has seen particularly strong growth: the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao.
Beginning in the summer of 2022, the island began seeing American visitation in numbers it had never seen before — and it’s a trend that keeps strengthening.
It was true again last month, when Curacao saw a 24 percent increase in travelers from the United States, with a total of 14,703 arrivals in August.
That was the most growth of any segment for Curacao, and helped drive the destination’s overall growth to 18 percent last month, according to data provided to Caribbean Journal by the Curacao Tourist Board.
The island was also boosted by a strong showing for the return of its Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival, one of the Caribbean’s most popular music events.
For the year, the island is up 24 percent compared to what was already a tremendously strong 2023 tourist year.
When you count cruise passengers, stayover arrivals and day trip travelers from nearby Dutch Caribbean islands, the total number of visitors jumps well over 1 million.
It’s part of what local tourism officials are calling a “remarkable” year for stayover tourism.
CJ Expert Take: Curacao has been seeing sizzling tourism numbers for well over two years, thanks to the debut of new all-inclusive resorts from brands like Hilton.
— CJ
