Caribbean celebrates signs of tourism rebound

SAN JUAN—The number of people traveling to the Caribbean is bouncing back to pre-recession levels, with visitors from Canada and the US giving a boost to a region struggling to recover from a global economic crisis, a top tourism official said. About 25 million tourists visited the Caribbean last year, a more than five per cent increase from 2011. It’s a growth rate that outpaced the rest of the world, which saw arrivals increase by 4 percent, said Beverly Nicholson-Doty, chairwoman of the Barbados-based Caribbean Tourism Organisation. “All the signs suggest Caribbean tourism is rallying,” said Nicholson-Doty. “The region as a whole has regained ground lost in the heat of the global economic depression.” The Caribbean also saw its largest number of stayover visitors in five years, with the region’s overall hotel occupancy increasing by more than seven per cent and total room revenues up by nearly nine per cent. And tourists spent big while visiting the Caribbean last year, dropping more than $27 billion, a more than three per cent increase from 2011. The numbers mark a return to pre-recession levels, Nicholson-Doty said.