New data from the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) projects the region will see a 20 percent increase in visitors this spring and a 43 percent increase during this year’s peak summer months, compared to the same period in 2019.
During a virtual press conference revealing 2023 performance and outlook survey results, CHTA President Nicola Madden-Greig said across the board the region is seeing numbers that surpass pre-pandemic levels.
“Spring and summer are set to surpass our 2019 levels, which is great news. We are looking at a 20 percent projection for spring, and that is from March to May, versus the same period in 2019. For summer we’re looking at a 48 percent increase for the June to August period over the June to August period for 2019. This is based on air ticket data that has been booked already. So, very interesting summer ahead for us, very positive in terms of growth and we are excited to share that with you,” she said.
“Our top airlines are rebounding in terms of connectivity, some faster than others. Some are above 2019 in terms of capacity and most are almost exact to 2019 levels or just below. S that is very good news for the Caribbean in terms of airlift.
“When we look at hotel performance in terms of occupancy and average daily room rates, we are seeing versus 2019 roughly the same occupancy, but a little below 73.6 percent in 2023 versus 74.4 percent in 2019. The ADR for 2019 versus 2023 is up, so we are seeing growing numbers.”
Madden-Greig said the region is also seeing an uptick in the number of travelers from South America, using Panama as a hub to enter the Caribbean.
“The fastest growing origin markets are Colombia, Argentina and the US for the Caribbean. So for Colombia we see 50 percent up, Argentina and the US are up seven percent in terms of growth,” she said.
The data was provide by travel analytics company ForwardKeys.
