Caribbean celebrates signs of tourism rebound

About 25 million tourists visited the Caribbean last year, a more than 5 percent increase from 2011. It's a growth rate that outpaced the rest of the world, which saw arrivals increase by 4 percent, said Beverly Nicholson-Doty, chairwoman of the Barbados-based Caribbean Tourism Organization.

"All the signs suggest Caribbean tourism is rallying," said Nicholson-Doty. "The region as a whole has regained ground lost in the heat of the global economic depression."

The Caribbean also saw its largest number of stayover visitors in five years, with the region's overall hotel occupancy increasing by more than 7 percent and total room revenues up by nearly 9 percent.

And tourists spent big while visiting the Caribbean last year, dropping more than $27 billion, a more than 3 percent increase from 2011. The numbers mark a return to pre-recession levels, Nicholson-Doty said.

The U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands fared the best, reporting a nearly 7 percent jump in tourists. From January to August last year alone, more than 1.1 million people visited Puerto Rico, mostly from the U.S. mainland.

Recent visitors include James Trucksess, a 46-year-old extermination business owner from North Brunswick, New Jersey. He flew again to Puerto Rico this week to escape the crippling snowstorm that recently hit the northeast U.S. coast.

"It's nice, it's warm and there's a lot of history," he said as he strolled near a historic fort with a cigar in one hand and a cup of coffee in another. "I come here pretty much for the history and the food as well."

Coming in second for visitor arrivals was the Dutch Caribbean, reporting a 5.6 percent increase from 2011 thanks to a surge in business from South America. The most popular islands were Curacao and Aruba, just north of Venezuela.