Travel Trends - September 2025 Curaçao’s Tourism Statistics

A Strong Summer, a Softer Europe and a Rising Americas! If there’s one takeaway from August, it’s that Curaçao’s summer slowdown isn’t what it used to be. 60,690 stayover visitors (+4% YoY) capped off a month that pushed total arrivals past 1.1 million ytd (+7%), an extraordinary milestone that puts the island well on track to break last year’s records. Even more encouraging, visitor nights climbed +8%, meaning guests not only came in greater numbers but stayed longer; excellent news for homeowners and the island overall. 

What’s striking is where the growth is coming from. The Americas are now powering Curaçao’s summer, even as European arrivals slipped. This shift and rebalancing of source markets is flattening seasonality, helping late summer calendars fill more evenly, reducing the August lull and offering clues for how owners should approach pricing and availability heading into Q4.

• South America surged +17%.  Brazil’s steady contribution grew 8% while Colombia (+17%) held its position as Curaçao’s most reliable short-haul feeder market. Nearly 2200 Argentinians visited the island, logging an eye-catching +164% increase. This aligns with Argentina’s winter school holidays and mid-year festivals, and will hopefully transform into a repeatable late-summer

       boost that helps fill villas and resorts.

• North America added +7%, further cementing Curaçao’s place on the American traveler’s radar. U.S. visitors continue to book closer to arrival (often 45–60 days out) and stay shorter (5–6 nights), an ideal fit for owners looking to fill gaps between longer bookings.

• Europe softened ~5%, with a 7% decline from the Netherlands. but Dutch visitors stayed nearly 12 nights on average, stretching their economic contribution despite fewer arrivals.

These shifts are meaningful: Curaçao is no longer relying solely on Europe to sustain summer. The Americas are filling the calendar and flattening the island’s seasonality, making August look less like a shoulder month and more like part of a steady, year-round demand pattern.

CRUISING IN

Cruise tourism roared back to life in August, with just 8 ship calls bringing 50,948 passengers (+58% YoY) to our shores. With fewer calls delivering so many people per ship on average, August marked perhaps the highest passenger-per-call months Curaçao has ever seen.  Larger vessels and fuller sailings are now the norm! Coupled with 3,417 day-trippers (+13%), these visitors added over 54,000 people to the island’s late-summer headcount, helping transform the end of summer into a period of livelier economic activity.

Looking ahead, Curaçao’s cruise calendar shows an impressive ramp-up into what will be the busiest Q4 on record.  Scheduled calls will see 29 ships arrive in October, 49 in November and a record-setting 71 in December to close out the year.  This sustained cruise presence will carry momentum into the new year when stayover arrivals typically peak, further strengthening the island’s overall tourism economy. 

AIRLIFT

August airlift remained steady (+4.2% YoY), supporting solid stayover growth even as European demand softened. Regionally, the Americas carried late-summer growth while Europe eased. What’s notable and consistent with prior months is the diversified mix: North and South America together made up roughly 53% of August stayovers, helping smooth seasonality even as Europe softened. That diversification shows up in the visitor-nights result as well (island-wide nights up ~8% in August), indicating that the capacity serving Curaçao is supporting both shorter-stay regional trips and longer European holidays.

Why it matters? A broader regional base reduces reliance on a single long-haul market and helps keep the island’s late-summer pace steady. This is the same pattern we’ve seen building through mid-2025: resilient Americas demand complementing Europe’s longer-stay contribution. With Q4 lift expected to set records, Curaçao enters high season with a more balanced and resilient visitor mix than ever before.

AIRLIFT EXPANSION

New South American Lift Coming This December: LATAM Airlines will begin year‐round direct service between Lima and Curaçao (three times weekly) and seasonal flights from Bogotá (also 3x/week), starting December 2, 2025. These routes deepen Curaçao’s connectivity with South America and will surely further bolster the +17% arrival growth we saw from that region in August. 

Netherlands (19,573 visitors | ↓ 6.6 % YoY | 232,777 nights | ↓ 5 %)

• Dutch visitors remain Curaçao’s backbone for room-nights, staying an average of 11.9 nights, the longest of any major market, even as arrivals dipped 6.6%. 

• Their extended stays contributed over 232,000 nights in August, softening the impact of lower volume.

***Best suited for premium, residential-style properties offering space, privacy, and strong mid-week availability.

United States (15,773 visitors | ↑ 7.1 % YoY | 91,580 nights | ↑ 11 %)

• U.S. arrivals jumped more than 7%, with visitors averaging 5.8 nights per trip and delivering a double-digit increase in total nights. 

• This short-to-mid-length segment remains ideal for filling gaps between longer European bookings, particularly when calendars allow flexible 5- to 6-night stays.

***Ideal for hotel-style villas, well-appointed condos and homes with seamless self-check-in for high-turnover guests.

Argentina (2,176 visitors | ↑ 164 % YoY | 16,953 nights | ↑ 166 %)

• Argentina was August’s breakout market, with arrivals more than doubling and room-nights soaring to nearly 17,000. This surge reflects the timing of Argentina’s winter school break and festival calendar, which reliably drives mid-year demand. 

• With an average stay of 7.8 nights, Argentinians book meaningful weeklong vacations that help sustain occupancy during what was once a soft period.

***Optimize by targeting family-friendly amenities and offering weeklong packages around July–August.

Colombia (4,991 visitors | ↑ 17.5 % YoY | 25,734 nights | ↑ 23 %)

• Colombia continued its strong momentum, producing more than 25,000 nights in August. 

• Stays averaged 5.2 nights, consistent with quick, cost-efficient getaways.

***Optimize for flexible minimum stays, streamlined booking processes and weekend-oriented arrivals that match regional holiday calendars.

Brazil (2,704 visitors | ↓ 6.7 % YoY | 17,854 nights | ↓ 7 %)

• Brazilian arrivals softened slightly but still contributed nearly 18,000 nights with an average stay of 6.6 nights. This pattern reflects typical shoulder-season behavior, with Brazilians likely to return in stronger numbers as the year closes and festive season approaches.

***Consider offering group discounts or value-added extras to encourage longer stays and capture repeat bookings in the months ahead.

FROM TRENDS TO TACTICS

August’s data confirms the shift toward a longer-stay, more diversified market. This is a blessing for owners but also a reminder that every lost night carries more weight. With visitor nights up +8% YoY, leaving gaps on the calendar means forfeiting a larger share of potential revenue. Practical tip: use pacing reports to spot gaps 30+ days out and either adjust minimum stays or deploy tactical discounts to backfill them early, rather than waiting until last minute.

The strong performance from the Americas, particularly Argentina and Colombia, signals that late-summer is no longer a lull but a bookable season in its own right. Savvy managers can lean into this by aligning promotions with regional school holidays and festival calendars. Offering flexible Friday/Saturday arrivals and curated weeklong packages can convert this demand into high-value, predictable bookings.

Cruise tourism’s resurgence also matters for vacation rentals. Fewer calls but more passengers mean busier peak days concentrated into fewer windows. Owners near downtown or popular beaches can leverage these pulses by offering short two or three-night stays targeting “cruise extenders,” travelers adding pre or post-cruise nights to explore the island.

Above all, this month’s data underscores the need for active management, not passive listing. Seasonality is flattening, demand is widening and Curaçao is operating closer to a year-round market. The owners who win will be those who treat pricing, minimum stays and availability as dynamic levers, not set-and-forget settings.