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.