As Americans start looking into Caribbean destinations for their 2024-2025 winter getaways, their interest in Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and the Mexican Caribbean grows, as well as some destinations in Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Dominican Republic, according to Mabrian.
The Caribbean will be, once again, one of the most sought-after winter escapades for American travellers, and three destinations will benefit from this travel demand, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and the Mexican Caribbean, according to the data analysed by our team of experts.
Our findings reflect the inspirational travel demand data based on Mabrian’s Share of Searches Index, that indicates the degree of market interest in given destinations based on flight searches behaviour, and independently of confirmed bookings. For this analysis, Share of Searches Index* tracked flight searches in the top 20 American airports, (representing 85% of the total international air connectivity from the U.S.), during the last month, for trips between November 2024 and February 2025 to top performing Caribbean destinations (Mexican Caribbean, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Barbados, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Bahamas).
United States is a traditionally strong key source market for The Caribbean, especially during winter season. As per latest data available from the Caribbean Tourism Association (CTO), comprising consolidated data from all Caribbean destinations for full year 2023, United States accounts for approximately 16.3 million stay-over arrivals, growing +12.7% year over year. The United States is a considerably relevant inbound market for The Caribbean, that received approximately 32.2 million international travellers in 2023.
As the performance of Share of Searches Index of American demand into The Caribbean indicates, U.S. inspirational demand to Costa Rica is the one growing the most among all countries analysed, +33% year over year. Of Costa Rican two main airports, demand to the North Western airport Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport is the one growing the most, up to +54%, being the easiest way to reach the coveted coastline of Tambor, Tamarindo Papagayo Gulf, among others.
Other Caribbean destinations showing a growing trend in inspirational demand is Puerto Rico (increasing +9% compared to the same period in 2023); The Mexican Caribbean (an average of +6% growth for Cancun, Cozumel, and Tulum airports); and Dominican Republic (an average of +4% increase, pushed mainly by Santo Domingo’s Las Americas Airport).
