The colorful streets of Willemstad. Floating bridge. All day party at Mambo Beach. Jan Thiel's endless possibilities. Curacao has always been one of the most diverse destinations in the region. Now, travelers, especially Americans, are finally starting to realize that.
That said, travel to the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao is currently booming and continues to draw tourists.
In March, the island welcomed just under 64,000 visitors, a whopping 38.4 percent compared to March 2023.
This has been driven by a particularly large increase in new hotels (from Hilton's latest all-inclusive resorts to the city's reimagined adults-only hotel) and air transportation, which the Curacao Hotel and Tourism Association describes as a “significant increase in visitor numbers.” This is what we call an “increase.”
The latter has been the most influential, driven by Delta Air Lines' long-awaited return to the destination last fall and increased flights from the key Dutch market.
Unsurprisingly, hotels on the island are, in short, fully booked. Hotel occupancy rates in March were what the hotel association called “unprecedented”, averaging 78.1 per cent (highest of any region in the Caribbean), with revenue up 26 per cent.
It began with one key moment in the summer of 2022: the opening of Sandals Royal Curacao, which ushered in the island's current tourism renaissance.
Immediately, American travel to the island began to break records, and other dominoes of the “sandal effect” began to fall – new interest, new demand from travel advisors, and most importantly, new Air mail.
And that growth isn't just invisible, it's accelerating as travelers increasingly appreciate destinations.
Now, this is the first time that the number of visitors to Curacao from the United States and the number of visitors from the Netherlands are almost equal.
So what's next for the island?
“The momentum continues to increase as we look to the remainder of 2024,” hotel association CHATA said in a statement obtained by Caribbean Journal. “Solid bookings and engagement continue into the second quarter, ensuring further growth in this area.”
Planning a vacation to Curacao? Visit the Curacao Tourism Board for more information.
