By: Staff Writer
April 7, 2026
The Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) in a recent report said that tourism in the Caribbean continued to expand in 2025, recording a 2.5 percent increase in international overnight arrivals with an estimated 35 million visits.
The report also said that compared to 2024, 900,000 more tourists visited the Caribbean on an international stayover basis — once again surpassing 2019 levels. Arrivals peaked during the traditional high-demand periods of March, July and December.
Across jurisdictions, arrival numbers were uneven. Some destinations experienced contractions due to capacity, local disruptions or external economic pressures, but strong growth was recorded in Guyana, Dominica, Curacao and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The CTO attributes this to ongoing product development and market diversification efforts.
According to the Jamaica Tourist Board, Jamaica saw a 34.1% drop in stopover visitor arrivals in December, falling from 302,594 stopovers received in December 2024 to 199,326 stopovers received in December 2025.
The western part of Jamaica was severely impacted by a category 5 hurricane between October 26th/27th 2025 resulting in damage to many resort hotels, other accommodation and infrastructure in that part of the country and their subsequent closure for repair.
According to the Belize Tourism Board, Belize received 61,392 stopover visitors in December 2025, 4.6% more than the 58,719 stopover visitors received in December 2024.
Belize received 40,930 stopover arrivals from the USA in December 2025, 5,824 from Europe, 5,633 from Canada and 1,656 from Mexico. The 40,930 stopovers from the USA were 66.7% of all stopover visits and were up 5.1% compared with US visits in December 2024.
The United States remained the Caribbean’s largest source market, with arrivals increasing 0.5% to approximately 17 million visitors. Demand remained relatively stable but uneven across the year.
Arrivals from Canada declined 5.3% to an estimated 3.1 million visitors, remaining below pre-pandemic levels as higher travel costs and competition from other destinations influenced travel patterns.
Similarly, arrivals from Europe decreased 3.3% to about 5.1 million visitors, with recovery continuing at a slower pace.
In contrast, South America recorded the strongest growth, with arrivals increasing 23.7% to 2.4 million visits, supported by improved air connectivity and targeted marketing initiatives.
Intra-regional travel also improved modestly, increasing 5.1%, though limited air connectivity and high travel costs continued to constrain stronger growth.