In 2020, tourism in the Caribbean Netherlands was heavily impacted by the measures and flight restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. The number of visitors who flew to St Eustatius and Saba last year was down by 69 and 67 percent respectively relative to 2019. On Bonaire, 58 percent fewer visitors arrived by air. This is evident from figures released by Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

In the first two months of 2020, there were still visitors flying to the islands of the Caribbean Netherlands. On 14 March 2020, Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba closed their air space for inbound passenger traffic from Europe and from other high-risk countries.

67 percent fewer visitors to Saba

In January and February 2020, the number of visitors to Saba was still similar to the same period in 2019. Tourism came to a halt after the introduction of the COVID-19 measures. From June through November, visitor numbers did not exceed 100 per month. Approximately 200 visitors arrived in December. For the whole year, the decline in the number of visitors arriving by air stood at 67 percent. Just as the other islands of the Caribbean Netherlands, Saba also experienced the largest drop in visitor arrivals in Q2 (94 percent), with substantially lower numbers in Q3 and Q4 as well compared to 2019 (86 and 87 percent lower respectively).

Most visitors who came to Saba were Americans (around 27 percent), followed by citizens of St Maarten, Aruba, or Curaçao (around 21 percent) and the European Netherlands (around 19 percent). There were also relatively many visitors from Canada (approximately 7 percent). Compared to 2019, fewer European Dutch nationals, in particular, came to Saba in 2020.

69 percent fewer visitors to St Eustatius 

In January and February, visitor numbers on St Eustatius were still similar to those in 2019. The number of visitors dropped in March and subsequently did not exceed 200 per month. Over the whole of 2020, there were 69 percent fewer visitors arriving by air: 3.3 thousand, down from 10.5 thousand in 2019. On St Eustatius, too, the decrease in the number of visitors was largest in Q2 (96 percent). However, Q3 and Q4 saw substantially lower visitor numbers as well compared to 2019 (81 and 80 percent lower respectively).

Last year, St Eustatius was visited mainly by people from St Maarten, Aruba, or Curaçao (around 31 percent) and by European Dutch citizens (around 22 percent). Americans and Dominicans accounted for 10 and 7 percent of all visitors. These percentages are similar to 2019. The decline in visitor numbers has affected all nationalities equally.

58 percent fewer visitors to Bonaire 

Last year, Bonaire received 66 thousand visitors as against nearly 158 thousand in 2019, i.e. a 58-percent decrease. Visitor numbers were still up in January and February, by 6.7 percent relative to 2019. After the implementation of the COVID-19 measures in mid-March, tourism came to a virtual standstill. In July and August, there was still an upturn due to a relaxation of the measures, but the number of visitors remained far below the level of 2019. In December, Bonaire received slightly more visitors again.

CBS