Antigua posts record visitor arrivals despite global headwinds

Antigua and Barbuda recorded its strongest first quarter in tourism history, with visitor arrivals climbing seven per cent over 2025 despite mounting geopolitical tensions, rising oil prices, and concerns over global economic instability.

Tourism Minister Charles Fernandez said the destination was outperforming last year’s figures even as the Caribbean tourism industry braces for multiple external threats, including inflation, labour pressures, climate change, and sargassum seaweed invasions.

“We are ahead of 2025 by seven per cent,” Fernandez said during the opening press briefing at the just-concluded Caribbean Travel Marketplace.

According to CEO of the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority (ABTA) Colin James, Antigua and Barbuda welcomed 110,832 stayover visitors during the first quarter of 2026, with January, February, and March all setting all-time monthly arrival records.

James said January arrivals climbed five per cent to 36,052 visitors, February increased six per cent to 36,133, and March rose eight per cent to 38,097 visitors, the highest monthly arrival figure ever recorded by the twin-island destination.

The tourism officials credited expanded airlift, stronger European demand, cruise growth, and targeted marketing for the strong performance.

James said Antigua and Barbuda was also seeing emerging growth from Latin America and the Middle East, noting that buyers from Dubai and the United Arab Emirates attended Caribbean Travel Marketplace for the first time this year.

He argued that safety and stability were increasingly influencing travel decisions globally.

“If you’re looking for an area of the world that’s safe and secure, it’s the Caribbean,” James said.

Meanwhile, Fernandez warned that tourism destinations across the region still faced major uncertainty linked to geopolitical instability, rising oil prices, and increased cost-of-living pressures.

“The price of oil is the culprit,” Fernandez said, noting that rising operational costs were also intensifying calls from tourism workers for “a liveable wage, not a minimum wage.”

The destination is also preparing for significant expansion in its tourism sector, with several luxury developments now under construction, including Nikki Beach, Marriott, Rosewood Barbuda, and One & Only projects.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com