Above: Trinidad (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Trinidad and Tobago is reporting a surge in tourism from the United States, according to the Trinidad and Tobago Tourism Development Company.

In the first quarter of 2015, the twin-island state received 47,811 visitors from the US.

The American market accounted for 40 percent of all arrivals to the country.

“This increase is very promising and we have embarked on a number of activities with a view to continuing this trend for the rest of the year and for years to come,” said Warren Solomon, general manager of marketing at the Trinidad & Tobago Tourism Development Company. “We are pleased with the continuous aggressive efforts and results our marketing and PR team has garnered and plan to ramp up our campaigns in this market as the year progresses.”

The numbers are no doubt buoyed by last year’s launch of JetBlue Airways flights between both New York City and Fort Lauderdale in February and May, respectively.

Tobago has also been seeing an increase in airlift, most notably the recent return of Virgin Atlantic to the island.