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The num­ber of Cana­di­an vis­i­tors to the Caribbean fell by nine per cent to 1.67 mil­lion, while ar­rivals from Eu­rope dropped by an es­ti­mat­ed five per cent to 2.53 mil­lion dur­ing the first half of 2025, com­pared to the same pe­ri­od last year.

Data­base ad­min­is­tra­tor at the Bar­ba­dos-based Caribbean Tourism Or­ga­ni­za­tion (CTO), Paul Gar­nes, said that in the case of Cana­da, this was due to soft­er de­mand tied to weak­er con­sumer con­fi­dence, high­er trav­el costs and cur­ren­cy events.

Speak­ing at the 2025 State of the Tourism In­dus­try Con­fer­ence tak­ing place in Bar­ba­dos through Fri­day, Gar­nes said that while Eu­rope re­mains an im­por­tant mar­ket to Caribbean tourism, de­mand is un­der pres­sure due to eco­nom­ic head­winds and/or stronger com­pe­ti­tion from oth­er des­ti­na­tions.