TORONTO — The Curacao Tourist Board says the continuous support of the CTB and partners to promote the Curacao brand in North America is reaping rewards for the island.

The southern Caribbean island is reporting double-digit growth of 18% in stayover visitor arrivals for February 2019.

In total some 6,372 more visitors were registered in the second month of 2019, bringing the total count to 41,145 stayover visitors against 34,773 in February 2018.

The North American region holds 27% share of all the visitors to Curacao in February. In total 10,896 stayover visitors were welcomed from the U.S. and Canada. The U.S. grew by 15%, while Canada recorded 19% more stayover visitors.

Both the U.S. and Canada benefits from increased airlift, brought on by additional flights from American Airlines and Air Canada this winter season.

A direct impact of US$132.7 million was generated for the local economy in the first two months of 2019, up 10% year over year.