Curacao Is Breaking Tourism Records. Now the Island Is Working to Ensure Its Growth Is Sustainable.

It’s been almost three years since Sandals first opened its resort in Curacao, the property debut that almost single-handedly changed the game for tourism on the Dutch Caribbean island. 

And Curacao has been hotter than ever, with more than 700,000 stayover visitors last year and a very strong start to 2025, as Caribbean Journal reported. 

Now, with continued record-breaking tourism arrivals, local officials are working to make sure that as its growth continues, it’s done in a sustainable way. 

Curacao has launched a new partnership with Sustainable Travel International and the George Washington University International Institute of Tourism Studies that will see the execution of a Destination Carrying Capacity Study, Caribbean Journal has learned. 

The idea is to create a framework for evaluating the multifaceted impacts of increasing tourism, one that creates a “balanced, mutually-beneficial industry that maximizes economic benefits while safeguarding the island’s ecosystems, preserving its cultural heritage, and enhancing visitor satisfaction and community well-being.”

While “overtourism” may be a concern, this “isn’t about limiting tourism,” Sustainable Travel International’s Paloma Zapata says. 

The goal is to create a virtuous cycle where thoughtful tourism growth strengthens community well-being and preserves the island’s unique appeal over time.”

That translates to something they call “high-value, low-impact” tourism.

It also shouldn’t be an insurmountable challenge on an island that has one of the Caribbean’s most effective blends of local-visitor harmony in the experience, a strong infrastructure and an island with a number of regions with a very low density of development.