Is This Going to Be a Record-Breaking Summer for Caribbean Travel? 

Could this be a record-breaking summer of travel to the Caribbean? 

A look at flight search data for the summer just might suggest that, according to analytics firm ForwardKeys. 

A growing intent for travel to the region suggests this could be a huge season for the Caribbean, the company revealed this week during the Caribbean Travel Forum in Antigua. 

Destinations like Puerto Rico, St Maarten and the Dominican Republic are all seeing significant increases in flight searches. 

That includes a 44 percent jump for Puerto Rico, a 22 percent rise for St Maarten and a 7 percent increase for the Dominican Republic. 

Saint Lucia and Curacao, two similarly well-performing hotspots, are up 2 percent for the same period. 

While the Caribbean has been flattening the so-called seasonality cure (that is, the difference between winter and summer demand) since the pandemic, this summer is poised to see an even stronger showing. 

You can see that borne out particularly in data from the Canadian market: jumps in searches for destination like the US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands and St Kitts and Nevis are all over 100 percent, including 193 percent for the US Virgin Islands this summer — that’s despite a lack of direct connectivity. 

All in all, it’s a positive trend, and one that bears watching going forward. 

I heard a range of takes from hoteliers I spoke with at the Caribbean Travel Marketplace about what they expect for summer travel. 

What did emerge? The sense that the summer is very island-dependent and hotel dependent. Some hoteliers I spoke with were quite bullish, seeing no drop-off in summer demand this year, while others were more cautious. 

Much of that will rely on the individual efforts of destinations. Anguilla, for example, has been making a big push to reposition itself as a year-round destination, and it’s an effort that seems to have been paying off. 

More Caribbean destinations will need to make that leap — and realize that the summer opportunity is there for the taking.