By NAN Staff Writer
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Weds. Feb. 17, 2016: The Caribbean region as a whole saw a spike in tourists last year with over 28 million stop-over arrivals, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s (CTO), latest data released Tuesday. But while the entire buzz is around the growth, five Caribbean nations can’t be as happy, recording negative growth in 2015 to make them the poorest performers for last year. They are:
1: Suriname: The Dutch-Caribbean nation of Suriname, which sits on the continent of South America, was the biggest loser in 2015, according to the CTO data. The country recorded a drop of negative 3.3 percent in stop over arrivals for the period reported – January to August 2015. That translates to just 166,246 visitors over the period.
2: Bermuda: The British-Caribbean island of Bermuda also recorded a drop in arrivals to its shores, compared to 2014. The territory saw a drop by minus 1.8 percent from the previous year, seeing some 208,737 stop over visitors between January and November, 2015.
3: Antigua & Barbuda: Antigua & Barbuda was the third worst performer last year. The island reported 222,123 stop over tourists, a drop of negative 0.5 percent from 2014.
4: Martinique: The French Caribbean territory of Martinique also saw a drop off from 2014 arrivals. Between January and December 2015, the island recorded 487,364 stop over tourists, according to the CTO data, a decline of negative 0.4 percent over 2014.
5: Dominica: Dominica, which battled storm damages in 2015, also saw its tourist bottom line affected. The Commonwealth recorded only 48,154 tourists for the reported period January to July 2015, a drop by minus 0.3 percent.
