Caribbean tourism near full tilt

The Dominican Republic recorded 1,219,606 visitors in January 2026, a 5.5% increase year‑over‑year reported by the Ministry of Tourism on February 11, 2026. (noticias.mitur.gob.do)) Air arrivals to the Dominican Republic reached 825,847 in January 2026, with Punta Cana International Airport accounting for roughly 63% of those air passengers (about 523,307), and national hotel occupancy averaged 82% that month. (diariolibre.com)) Aruba logged 136,578 arrivals in January 2026, a 9.4% increase versus January 2025, while cruise visitor calls rose to 138,059 (up 11.8%), and total nights spent reached 1,064,432 with an average length of stay of 7.3 nights. (aruba.bynder.com)) STR hotel analytics shows Caribbean January 2026 occupancy jumped 1.8% versus January 2025, average daily rate climbed to $420.35 (+4.9%) and revenue per available room rose 6.8%, based on a STR survey of 2,115 hotels (≈280,892 rooms). (caribjournal.com)) DP World’s multi‑hundred‑million‑dollar expansion at Caucedo and plans for a free‑trade/logistics zone have raised container capacity in the Dominican Republic toward a multi‑million TEU scale, even as industry updates flag continued maritime congestion and longer vessel waiting times across Caribbean ports. (dpworld.com)) Longer average stays (Dominican Republic ~9 days; Aruba 7.3 nights) amplify per‑guest F&B consumption and cumulative demand for fast‑turn SKUs, while Caucedo and other terminals maintain refrigerated and temperature‑controlled facilities needed for hotel provisioning. (diariolibre.com)) Hotel procurement models in the region already range from center‑led/global sourcing—Marriott uses Avendra and a global procurement group for North America, Central America and the Caribbean—to company‑level procurement teams (Sandals maintains a corporate procurement division), trends that intersect with growing FTZ and port capacity to justify testing regional distribution hubs. (scw-mag.com))