How many tourists arrived by air?
In 2023, a total of 182.6 thousand tourists flew to the islands of the Caribbean Netherlands. That was just over one thousand fewer than in 2022. The increase in tourist arrivals by air on Bonaire came to a halt, while in 2022 it rose by more than 50 percent compared with 2021. Inbound tourism by air on Saba and St Eustatius recovered partially, but has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.
In 2023, 171.1 thousand tourists visited Bonaire by air, compared with 173.2 thousand in the previous year. Ten years earlier, this was 31 percent.
In the last quarter of 2023, 44 thousand tourists visited the island by air, which was down 6 percent year on year.
| Year | Bonaire | St Eustatius | Saba |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 131.0 | 11.2 | 9.7 |
| 2014 | 128.9 | 11.3 | 10.2 |
| 2015 | 133.4 | 10.7 | 9.7 |
| 2016 | 135.8 | 11.0 | 9.2 |
| 2017 | 128.5 | 10.3 | 8.2 |
| 2018 | 147.8 | 10.5 | 8.1 |
| 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 |
| 2023* | 171.1 | 5.8 | 5.7 |
| * Provisional figures | |||
Tourist arrivals by air on St Eustatius up by 50 percent in 2023
The number of tourists travelling to St Eustatius by air in 2023 increased to 5.8 thousand, or around 4 percent, compared with the previous year. In 2013, nearly 50 percent fewer tourists visited St Eustatius than in 2023. The number of visitors by air has not returned to the pre-pandemic levels of 2019.
In Q4 2023, 1.8 thousand tourists visited the island by air. That was 6 percent more than in 2022.
Tourism by air on Saba not yet back to pre-pandemic levels
Saba saw an increase in visitors by air of 16 percent (to a total of 5.7 thousand) last year. Relative to 2013, over 40 percent fewer tourists visited Saba. Just as in St Eustatius, inbound tourism by air has not returned to the pre-pandemic levels seen in 2019.
In the last quarter of 2023, 1.4 thousand tourists visited the island by air, the same number as one year previously.
| Year | Quarter | Bonaire |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Q1, 2019 | 44.5 |
| 2019 | Q2, 2019 | 38.7 |
| 2019 | Q3, 2019 | 35.0 |
| 2019 | Q4, 2019 | 39.6 |
| 2020 | Q1, 2020 | 37.8 |
| 2020 | Q2, 2020 | 1.2 |
| 2020 | Q3, 2020 | 14.2 |
| 2020 | Q4, 2020 | 12.7 |
| 2021 | Q1, 2021 | 11.7 |
| 2021 | Q2, 2021 | 17.7 |
| 2021 | Q3, 2021 | 38.2 |
| 2021 | Q4, 2021 | 43.8 |
| 2022 | Q1, 2022 | 42.5 |
| 2022 | Q2, 2022 | 43.3 |
| 2022 | Q3, 2022 | 40.6 |
| 2022 | Q4, 2022 | 46.8 |
| 2023 | Q1, 2023 | 49.0 |
| 2023 | Q2, 2023 | 40.4 |
| 2023 | Q3, 2023 | 37.8 |
| 2023 | Q4*, 2023 | 44.0 |
| * Provisional figures | ||
| Year | Quarter | St Eustatius | Saba |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Q1, 2019 | 2.6 | 2.4 |
| 2019 | Q2, 2019 | 2.7 | 2.0 |
| 2019 | Q3, 2019 | 2.6 | 2.1 |
| 2019 | Q4, 2019 | 2.6 | 2.3 |
| 2020 | Q1, 2020 | 2.3 | 1.9 |
| 2020 | Q2, 2020 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| 2020 | Q3, 2020 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| 2020 | Q4, 2020 | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| 2021 | Q1, 2021 | 0.6 | 0.5 |
| 2021 | Q2, 2021 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| 2021 | Q3, 2021 | 1.0 | 1.2 |
| 2021 | Q4, 2021 | 1.1 | 1.4 |
| 2022 | Q1, 2022 | 1.0 | 1.1 |
| 2022 | Q2, 2022 | 1.3 | 1.2 |
| 2022 | Q3, 2022 | 1.6 | 1.2 |
| 2022 | Q4, 2022 | 1.7 | 1.4 |
| 2023 | Q1, 2023 | 1.6 | 1.4 |
| 2023 | Q2, 2023 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| 2023 | Q3, 2023 | 1.0 | 1.4 |
| 2023 | Q4*, 2023 | 1.8 | 1.4 |
| * Provisional figures | |||
Drop in number of tourists with Dutch nationality visiting Bonaire
The share of tourists with Dutch nationality arriving in Bonaire by air – visitors from the European Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and St Maarten – fell from 71 percent in 2021 to 64 percent in 2022. This remained unchanged in 2023. The relative share of tourists with Dutch nationality has fallen in recent years due to an increase in visitors from the United States. In 2023, the share of visitors with Dutch nationality also dropped on St Eustatius, while it remained the same on Saba. In absolute numbers, the number of tourists with Dutch nationality arriving in Bonaire has actually increased in recent years, from approximately 79 thousand in 2021 to 109 thousand in 2023.
Some of the tourists with Dutch nationality are residents of Aruba, St Maarten and Curaçao. In 2023, 16 percent of inbound tourists flying to Bonaire were living on one of the islands. In 2022, that share was 10 percent.
| Year | Bonaire | St Eustatius | Saba |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 2023* | 64 | 58 | 48 |
| * Provisional figures | |||