February 26, 2024

Solid market recovery in 2023

In 2023, the Americas overall reached 90% of 2019 levels in international tourist arrivals according to UN Tourism, while both Central America and the Caribbean exceeded pre-pandemic levels.

  • +26.6% Year-to-year growth in tourism arrivals to the Americas in 2023
  • +5.3% Central America outperformed 2019 arrival figures by 5.3% last year

In its analysis of data, UN Tourism estimates that the continents welcomed 198.3 million international tourist arrivals, growth of 26.6% compared to 2022. Total arrivals were only 9.6% below the results of 2019, when the Americas recorded over 219 million international arrivals.

2023 growth was backed by solid intra-regional demand. Strong travel from the United States particularly benefited the Caribbean and Central American destinations. El Salvador (+40%), Colombia (+33%), the Dominican Republic and Curaçao (both +24%) were among the strongest performers in the first ten months of 2023. Central America was de facto the strongest performer with 11.5 million arrivals, exceeding its 2019 results by 5.3%. The Caribbean came in second with total arrivals at 26.5 million, exceeding 2019 numbers by 1.4%.

North America remained the largest region for inbound tourism. With 126.9 million international arrivals, its market share reached 64% of all tourists’ movements in the Americas.

Photo: © Messe Berlin GmbH