In the first half of 2023, Bonaire welcomed more visitors than it did in the same period the previous year. There were a total of 88,749 visitors, up more than 3 percent from 2022 and nearly 7 percent more than in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic. With this growth, Bonaire demonstrates the island's resilience.
Especially in the months of January through March, many visitors came to Bonaire. These months involved over 16,000 visitors per month. Starting in April, there was a slight dip in visitor numbers.
Almost half of these visitors were from the Netherlands, while the United States of America accounted for almost a quarter of visitors. Over 13 percent of visitors to Bonaire came from neighboring island Curaçao. Most visitors came from the American states of Florida, New York, California, Texas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, Massachusetts and Georgia. For the Netherlands, most visitors came from the north and south of the country. The average length of stay for visitors on the island was nine nights.
Nearly 40 percent of the tourists were newcomers to Bonaire, while the rest were repeat visitors. Of those so-called "repeaters," a quarter had visited the island two to five times before. The largest group of visitors fell within the 45 to 64 age group.
Cruise tourism
As for the cruise industry, from January through May 2023, 108 cruise ships docked in the port of Bonaire with a total of 275,702 passengers on board. Statistics for June have not been released at this time.