US Virgin Islands – Caribbean tourism is bouncing back to pre-recession levels, with visitors from Canada and the U.S. giving a boost to tourist arrivals.
The Caribbean welcomed 25 million tourists last year, a near 5.5 per cent rise over 2011, outpacing the rest of the world, which saw arrivals increase by four per cent.
According to CTO Chairman and the US Virgin Islands Commission of Tourism Beverly Nicholson-Doty in the State of the Industry report, region saw its largest number of stayover visitors in five years, with overall hotel occupancy for the region increasing by more than seven per cent and total room revenues up nearly nine per cent. This, the CTO chairman said, gives the sector reason to be optimistic.
“This optimism is based on the positive signs of growth following earlier down years. We are optimistic because we see arrival numbers rising, particularly out of North America; we see hotel revenues moving in the right direction, albeit with moderate acceleration and we see tourist spend on the increase.
Beverly Nicholson-Doty
“All the signs suggest Caribbean tourism is rallying. The region as a whole has regained ground lost in the heat of the global economic depression in 2008/2009.” She said.
The CTO chairman added that tourists also spent more than US$27 billion in the region, a more than three per cent rise when compared to 2011.
