St. Maarten shines as one of the Caribbean’s strongest growth destinations in 2026 Travel Trends Report

GREAT BAY--St. Maarten has been identified as one of the Caribbean’s top-performing destinations in the 2026 Caribbean Travel Trends Report by Amadeus and the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, CHTA, with the island recording 12 percent year-over-year growth in overseas tourist arrivals between April 2025 and March 2026.

The report, which analyzes Caribbean travel demand, destination performance, connectivity patterns, seasonality and traveler behavior, places St. Maarten among the region’s standout markets at a time when overall Caribbean travel growth has slowed. According to the report, overseas travel demand to the Caribbean grew by just 1 percent during the period, compared to stronger post-recovery growth in previous years.

Against that regional backdrop, St. Maarten’s 12 percent growth placed the destination among the top-ranked Caribbean performers. The report lists St. Maarten with a 2.3 percent share of total Caribbean tourist arrivals, ranking it among the leading destinations for year-over-year growth.

The report also specifically highlights St. Maarten in its “Destinations in the Spotlight” section, noting that the island showed “particularly strong year-over-year performance.” It explains that St. Maarten’s results should be viewed within the broader regional context because the island combines its own tourism appeal with a strategic role as a key gateway to neighboring destinations.

According to the report, St. Maarten provides access to Saint Martin by land and to nearby islands such as Anguilla and St. Barthélemy by boat and charter flights. This gateway function, the report notes, helps explain the strong demand signals observed in the data.

St. Maarten also performed strongly among two-person travel parties, or “duos,” which represented the largest share of overseas tourist arrivals to the Caribbean at 40.4 percent. The report lists St. Maarten as a top-performing destination for this segment, with 8 percent year-over-year growth. This reinforces the island’s appeal for couples, romantic getaways, honeymoons, wellness-oriented travel and other experience-driven visits.

In terms of high-value demand, St. Maarten was also listed among destinations with a balance of luxury and economy travel in line with the regional average. The report placed St. Maarten on the Caribbean premium/luxury index with a score of 1.5, above the regional average of 1.0. Regionally, 7.6 percent of Caribbean tourist arrivals traveled in premium cabins.

The report further showed that St. Maarten falls into a middle-ground seasonality profile. On the Amadeus Seasonality Index, where a lower score indicates more consistent year-round overnight stays and a higher score indicates stronger seasonal fluctuation, St. Maarten recorded a score of 132. This placed the island below highly seasonal destinations such as Barbados, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe and Belize, but above destinations with more stable year-round demand such as Curaçao, Aruba, Guyana and St. Lucia.

According to Amadeus and CHTA, many Caribbean destinations in this middle-ground category can achieve additional gains by applying more targeted strategies, particularly by expanding reach among South American travelers and improving low-season performance.

The report emphasizes that Latin American source markets are becoming increasingly important for Caribbean tourism. Demand from Latin America increased by 24 percent year over year, while premium travel from South America to the Caribbean increased by 117 percent. Peru and Argentina stood out with major increases in premium travel demand, while Brazil and Colombia were highlighted as important sources of low-season growth.

For St. Maarten, the findings point to opportunities to strengthen market diversification, target higher-value travelers, build on its strong appeal among couples and duos, and further leverage its position as a regional gateway.

The 2026 Caribbean Travel Trends Report also stresses the growing importance of data-driven marketing, traveler segmentation and targeted advertising. It notes that Caribbean destinations must move beyond broad promotion and use more precise insights to reach the right travelers at the right time in the travel planning process.

The report states that the Caribbean is entering a new phase, one defined less by rapid growth and more by the need to optimize performance, diversify demand and build long-term resilience. St. Maarten’s performance, particularly its double-digit growth and gateway positioning, places the island in a strong position within that changing regional environment.

For tourism stakeholders, the report’s St. Maarten findings underline several strategic priorities: maintaining air and sea connectivity, expanding destination marketing to high-potential source markets, targeting couples and experience-driven travelers, improving off-peak demand and continuing to position St. Maarten as both a destination and a regional access point.

The Caribbean Travel Trends Report 2026 was produced by Amadeus in collaboration with CHTA and is based on Amadeus market research data, including air travel, hospitality and traveler behavior data, accurate as of April 2026.

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