LatinNews Daily - 12 October 2021

* The Caribbean tourism organisation (CTO) has released new figures which reveal that international tourist arrivals to the Caribbean reached 6.6m in the first half of 2021, down 12.0% on the same period last year. According to the CTO report, by the end of May, arrivals were at 5.2m, down 30.8% for the corresponding period in 2020, considerably better than the global average of a 65.1% decline. The same report notes that while tourist arrivals remained below pre-coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic numbers, the first half year performance “was boosted by a second quarter spurt when overnight tourist visits to the Caribbean jumped between ten and 37 times greater than those in the corresponding months in 2020”. In absolute terms, there was a steady improvement, as arrival numbers increased from 1m in April to 1.2m in May and 1.5m in June. The CTO cites as among the reasons for the strong second quarter, a rise in outbound travel from the region’s primary market, the US, from which tourist visits reached 4.3m in the first half of the year, up 21.7%. Other contributing factors included the easing of some travel restrictions and an increase in airlift.

End of preview - This article contains approximately 201 words.

Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article

Not a Subscriber?

Choose from one of the following options

• Subscribe
• Sign up for a one-time, 14-day trial