Tourism minister Francisco Javier Garcia on Sunday said the sector grew 8 percent in January, which in his view heralds 2014 as one of the best years for the country’s tourism industry, with more than $5 billion in earnings in 2013.

The Caribbean recorded a rise in visitor expenditure in 2013 when compared to 2012, with the spending rate outpacing that of visitor arrivals for the first time in three years, according to figures from the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

The US remains the Caribbean's core market, while there was a drop in visitors from the United Kingdom and Europe and nearly zero growth in Canadian travellers, according to a statement issued by Johnson JohnRose, spokesperson for the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

The Bahamas broke the six million mark for total visitor arrivals in 2013, the Minister of Tourism M confirmed yesterday, while telling this newspaper: “We still have more work to do”. Speaking with Tribune Business, Obie Wilchcombe said this nation received 6.2 million visitors in 2013, a roughly 5 percent increase from the reported 5.9 million the previous year.

Ethical travel company Sumak Sustainable Travel adds eight new Latin America destinations in its second year of operation.