Curaçao’s Tourism Surge Continues

Photo credit: Brian Major

Curaçao posted an 18 percent year-over-year increase in August visitor arrivals, continuing a year of unprecedented tourism growth for the Dutch Caribbean nation.

A total of 58,291 overnight, land-based visitors traveled to Curaçao in August, including 14,703 guests from the United States, a 24 percent increase from the 11,834 travelers who visited the country in August 2023, according to Curaçao Tourist Board (CTB) data.

The August results were elevated during the last weekend of August as the island hosted the Curaçao North Sea Jazz Festival. The event “attracted a substantial number of tourists, especially from Aruba, Suriname, Colombia, Brazil, the United States, and the Netherlands,” CTB officials said in a statement.

The U.S. is Curaçao’s second-largest source market behind The Netherlands, which contributed 20,935 visitors in August. Curaçao’s U.S.-based visitors are primarily from New York, New Jersey, and Florida.

The majority (69 percent) of U.S. travelers stayed at resort hotels while the remaining 31 percent booked “other lodging options,” said CTB officials. U.S. visitors averaged 5.6 night per stay in August.

Curaçao’s August numbers continue a year-long trend of unprecedented tourism growth for the destination. During the first eight months of 2024, the island recorded 464,017 overnight arrivals, representing a 24 percent year-over-year increase.

“All markets of focus are showing great arrival numbers in the first eight months,” said CTB officials, including 120,078 visitors from the U.S.

Another 578,737 travelers arrived in Curaçao via cruise ships and day trips in the first eight months of this year, for a total of 1,042,754 visitors, according to CTB statistics.

This article originally appeared in TravelPulse.