Above: the Sandals LaSource Grenada Resort (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Tourism to Grenada is surging, according to new data from the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

Tourism stopover arrivals to the island increased by 18.6 percent in the first half of 2014, compared to the first six months of 2013, according to the CTO data.

The island received a total of 65,330 stopover arrivals from January to June, boosted by a strong summer season that saw a 33.8 percent increase thus far.

The summer surge helped improve the island’s fortunes after a relatively slow start to the first quarter that actually saw negative arrivals.

In 2013, Grenada received a total of 116,456 arrivals for the full year, a 0.9 percent improvement over 2012.

The island has led a renewed tourism push, led by a rebranding of the island’s tourism product as “Pure Grenada.”

It also received a major boost with the recent debut of the new Sandals LaSource Grenada resort.