Cuba, Puerto Rico lead tourism growth, no mention of Jamaica

Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer

Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and the U.S Virgin Islands led tourism growth in the Caribbean in 2011, says the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO).

The CTO made no mention of Jamaica, which in the past has shown strong stop-over arrivals annually.

At a press conference in Barbados this morning, statistics from the tourism entity showed the big four continuing the historical trend of leading the region.

The four countries, which combined to contribute a 4.2 per cent growth, are part of a subgroup which accounts for more than half of all arrivals to the Caribbean annually.

The Dutch Caribbean islands Curaçao and Aruba performed well according to the CTO, reporting robust figures of 13.9 per cent and 5.6 per cent increase in arrivals respectively.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com