How many tourists arrive by air in the Caribbean Netherlands?

In 2022, altogether 183.7 thousand tourists flew to the islands of the Caribbean Netherlands. The number of tourist arrivals by air on Bonaire rose by 55.6 percent relative to the previous year and exceeded the level of 2019, the last year before the coronavirus crisis. Inbound tourism by air on Saba and St Eustatius recovered partially but was not yet back at its pre-pandemic level.

In 2022, 173.2 thousand tourists visited Bonaire by plane, against 111.3 thousand in the previous year. The number of tourist arrivals was even 9.8 percent higher than in 2019, when 157.8 thousand visitors flew to Bonaire.

Show datatableInbound tourism by air, yearly (x 1,000)Hide datatableInbound tourism by air, yearly (x 1,000)

Inbound tourism by air, yearly (x 1,000)

Jaartal	Bonaire	St Eustatius	Saba
2019	157.8	10.5	8.8
2020	66.0	3.4	2.7
2021	111.3	3.6	4.0
2022*	173.2	5.6	4.9
* Provisional figures

Tourist arrivals by air on St Eustatius up by half in 2022

The number of tourists travelling to St Eustatius by air in 2022 increased by 55.6 percent year on year, to 5.6 thousand. However, this is still 46.7 percent less than in 2019, when 10.5 thousand visitors flew to the island.

Tourism by air on Saba not yet at pre-pandemic level

Saba also saw an increase in air visitor numbers last year: by 22.5 percent to 4.9 thousand. This is still 44.3 percent less than in 2019.

Show datatableInbound tourism by air, quarterly (x 1,000)Hide datatableInbound tourism by air, quarterly (x 1,000)

Inbound tourism by air, quarterly (x 1,000)

Jaar	Kwartaal	Bonaire	St Eustatius	Saba
2019	Q1, 2019	44.5	2.6	2.4
2019	Q2, 2019	38.7	2.7	2.0
2019	Q3, 2019	35.0	2.6	2.1
2019	Q4, 2019	39.6	2.6	2.3
2020	Q1, 2020	37.8	2.3	1.9
2020	Q2, 2020	1.2	0.1	0.1
2020	Q3, 2020	14.2	0.5	0.3
2020	Q4, 2020	12.7	0.5	0.4
2021	Q1, 2021	11.7	0.6	0.5
2021	Q2, 2021	17.7	0.9	0.9
2021	Q3, 2021	38.2	1.0	1.2
2021	Q4, 2021	43.8	1.1	1.4
2022*	Q1, 2022*	42.5	1.0	1.1
2022*	Q2, 2022*	43.3	1.3	1.2
2022*	Q3, 2022*	40.6	1.6	1.2
2022*	Q4, 2022*	46.8	1.7	1.4
* Provisional figures

Lower share of Dutch nationals visiting Bonaire

The share of tourists with Dutch nationality – i.e. the European Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and St Maarten – arriving on Bonaire by air declined from 71 percent in 2021 to 64 percent one year later. The number of visitors with Dutch nationality did increase, however, from around 79 thousand to 111 thousand. The lower share is related to an increase in the number of visitors from the United States. St Eustatius also saw a decline in the share of visitors with Dutch nationality, while Saba recorded a slight increase.

Some of the tourists holding Dutch nationality are residents of Aruba, St Maarten and Curaçao. In 2022, 10 percent of tourist arrivals by air on Bonaire originated from these islands. This share was 15 percent in the previous year. The number of visitors from Aruba, St Maarten or Curaçao did increase last year, by 3.7 percent to more than 17 thousand.

Show datatableInbound tourism by air, Dutch nationals (%)Hide datatableInbound tourism by air, Dutch nationals (%)

Inbound tourism by air, Dutch nationals (%)

Jaartal	Bonaire	St Eustatius	Saba
2012	62	56	48
2013	59	56	43
2014	56	53	40
2015	55	52	41
2016	58	50	41
2017	57	48	45
2018	56	51	44
2019	57	53	46
2020	69	54	40
2021	71	63	47
2022*	64	60	48
* Provisional figures

More data on inbound tourism by air