THE World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has reported that bookings for the summer is showing that tourism is on its way back to pre-COVID levels, at least in some Caribbean destinations.

Aruba, Dominican Republic and Jamaica were among the top-five countries deemed “most resilient destinations”, with only Costa Rica recording a higher rate of bookings for the summer when compared to the same period in 2019.

As of April 5, Costa Rica’s bookings exceeded 2019 level by 30 per cent, with Aruba seeing a 23 per cent increase, Dominican Republic so far recording a 16 per cent uptick and Jamaica with 15 per cent growth.

“News of the strong recovery highlights a promising prospect ahead for summer holiday travel, with sun and sea destinations, such as the Caribbean and Latin America, leading the international inbound bookings,” the WTTC stated.

“According to ForwardKeys, a leading travel and analytics company, the country’s leading the ranking of top 20 best-performing destinations for the summer are Costa Rica, Aruba, Dominican Republic, and Jamaica, all of which rely heavily upon international travel. These destinations lead the pack with bookings already surpassing pre-pandemic levels,” it continued.

In the meantime, The Bahamas, which had the seventh highest bookings, was two per cent behind those for 2019. Other destinations in the wider Latin America region which ranked among the top 20 were Mexico with a 10 per cent improvement in bookings and Colombia falling short of 2019 figures by five per cent.

Welcoming the news, Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association President Nicola Madden-Greig said the trajectory indicates a move towards full recovery with Aruba, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica leading the region.

“However, we do anticipate that other destinations in the region will continue to see improved uptick in bookings and get closer and closer to pre-pandemic levels and eventually surpass same,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

Madden-Greig added that with many destinations adjusting their entry protocols and making it less restrictive for travellers, the region is ready to welcome visitors and offer them an opportunity to “see, do and explore” a lot of new things.

Overall, the Caribbean still has some catching up to do to surpass 2019 bookings. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), while the Caribbean and southern and Mediterranean Europe have shown the fastest rates of recovery towards 2019 levels since the start of the year, they are still 38 per cent and 41 per cent behind pre-COVID inbound travel bookings.

“Among destinations with available data, several islands in the Caribbean and Asia and the Pacific, together with some small destinations in Europe and Central America recorded the best results in January 2022 compared to 2019,” the UNWTO outlined in its World Tourism Barometer.