This steady growth is a reflection of the upward trend in UK visitors to Costa Rica that has been seen in the last few years, enhanced by the launch of the British Airways direct flights from London in April 2016.

The minister noted that several powerful hurricanes and storms had caused catastrophic damage across sections of the Caribbean last year, resulting in economic losses exceeding US $100 billion.

The warning on travel to Cuba along with tighter restrictions issued last year that made it more difficult for Americans to travel there independently have dampened a recent boom in U.S. visitors to the island.

That type of cash could go a long way in helping Cuba meet its goal of tripling tourism revenues by 2030, as it strives to revive an economy straining under trade sanctions and U.S. President Donald Trump’s tighter travel restrictions.

International arrivals in the Bahamas show a solid growth of 10.2 percent year-to-date, maintaining the tourism turnaround that began in October last year.

Mexico tourism officials also reported around 4.2 million cruise ship passengers arrived in the country in the first half of the year, a 10.4 percent increase from the same period in 2017.