During the first half of the year, the twin-island nation welcomed an impressive 176,665 stop-over visitors, marking a 15% increase compared to the same period last year.
Minister of Tourism, Max Fernandez, shared the news during a press conference at the Tourism Authority headquarters on Monday.
He attributed the significant increase in arrivals to the industry’s resilience and the dedication of tourism officials.
Despite potential challenges such as hurricanes and shifts in the political climate of key source markets like the United States and the United Kingdom following a change in government, Antigua and Barbuda’s tourism industry continues to thrive.
“Stopover visitor arrivals increased from January to June 2024, from 154,333 in January to June 2023 to 176,655 in January to June 2024, when comparing the same period in 2019, which was our best year this represents a +10% increase from161,434 at the end of June of that year. We are well on the way to a record year for Tourism arrivals.”