Canadian Travel to the Caribbean Grows 14%

A new report finds that 14% more travelers from Canada visited the Caribbeans in the first half of 2024. 

The report comes from ForwardKeys and the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) and was first presented at the Caribbean Marketplace event in Montego Bay, Jamaica. The research analyzes the region’s tourism performance and provides insight into the various travel trends for 2024. 

Overall, international travel to the Caribbean is up 10% year-over-year, with the Canadian segment seeing more growth than the U.S., Latin America, and Europe. Airlift to and within the Caribbean has also seen growth in 2024; Canada outpaces the rest of the world here too, with seat capacity seeing a 17% boost (compared to 13% globally).     

The report found that international travel to the Caribbean exceeds pre-pandemic levels, with an overall growth of 13% compared to 2019 ticket sales. Meanwhile, the global average saw a 16% decrease in international arrivals compared to 2019. 

Family travel is rising significantly in the region, with Curaçao, Belize, and Aruba seeing the most growth. 

“Arrivals of family-sized groups (three to five passengers) to Caribbean destinations show an increase of +13% year-over-year in the first half of 2024,” the report said. “This matches similar growth in solo travellers, and exceeds that of couples, highlighting the importance of the family segment to tourism strategy in the region.” 

Additionally, premium class travel outperformed standard class bookings, suggesting the potential for Caribbean destinations to target the growing market for luxury travel: 

“This demonstrates the enduring strength of luxury travel to the region as high-yield travellers continue to seek out exclusive Caribbean experiences, with Turks and Caicos, the Cayman Islands and the US Virgin Islands showing the highest growth — and collectively accounting for almost 10% of all premium class arrivals.”