The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) this week identified the Turks and Caicos Islands as the best-performing global destination in 2023, recognizing a post-pandemic tourism surge during which the archipelago��s arrivals increased 127 percent.

The Turks and Caicos outpaced all other international destinations in terms of visitor growth since 2019 last year, according to UNWTO��s World Tourism Barometer.

The country outpaced nations including Qatar (in second place, up 90 percent) and Saudi Arabia (third at 56 percent).

The Turks and Caicos was followed by several Caribbean destinations within the UNWTO��s 10 nations with the largest post-pandemic arrivals growth, including Cura?ao and the Dominican Republic (tied for ninth at 24 percent each) and the U.S. Virgin Islands (tenth at 23 percent).

The Turks and Caicos Islands re-opened from its pandemic shutdown on July 22, 2020 with ��a stringent entry protocols including a vaccination requirement,�� said government officials in a statement.

Officials subsequently implemented a strategy to ��attract a high-income, luxury niche market rather than a high-volume mass market�� and adopted ��a more intentional approach to managing the tourism sector�� with the establishment of destination management organization Experience Turks and Caicos in 2023.

��Tourism is our main economic driver,�� said Josephine Connolly, the Turks and Caicos minister of tourism, ��and as such, it was imperative that we got the sector up and running as early as possible but in a carefully managed and strategic way. ��

The government has additionally launched a ��Tourism Carrying Capacity Study�� designed to ��guide the government��s policies for the sustainable development of the tourism industry�� via ��analysis of the environmental, economic, social and cultural impacts of the sector.��

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