These 3 Caribbean Destinations Dominate U.S. Winter Travel Trends For 2024

Data reviewed by Mabrian, a global travel intelligence platform, has revealed intriguing insights about the Caribbean destinations Americans are considering for their winter getaways, and even more interesting, the cities losing their appeal among these travelers.

Mabrian’s Share of Searches Index found that the most sought-after hotspots include Costa Rica, the Mexican Caribbean and Puerto Rico, as well as, Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and the Bahamas. However, not all cities in these countries share the same level of attractiveness for U.S. citizens.

This data reflects both the inspirational travel demand based on searches Americans have conducted for trips between November 2024 and February 2025, and independently confirmed flight bookings.

In previous reports, we’ve highlighted a concerning trend of growing attrition among American travelers when it comes to visiting their most beloved destination—Mexico—even though the numbers remain strong.

This phenomenon appears once again in this analysis, revealing that the most searched destination by Americans is actually the Central American country of Costa Rica, with a year-over-year increase in searches of over 33%—the highest of studied countries.

Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport has emerged as the best-performing transportation hub, with a 54% growth in searches, likely because it provides easy access to popular tourist hotspots like Tambor and Tamarindo Papagayo Gulf.

“Costa Rica’s inspirational demand increase is very uniform throughout all the American airports analyzed, demonstrating that this is a top-of-mind destination for American travelers during winter season, that looks very positive and promising in terms of consolidated bookings and arrivals,” says Carlos Cendra, Partner and Director of Marketing and Communications at Mabrian.

The other Caribbean destinations securing the first spots in searches are Puerto Rico, with a 9% increase compared to the same timeframe last year; the Mexican Caribbean, with a combined 6% growth for Cancun, Cozumel and Tulum airports, (we’ll focus on Tulum later); and the Dominican Republic, showing a 4% increase over the same period in 2023.

Tulum Continues to “Steal” Tourists from Other Mexican Destinations

The opening of Tulum’s Felipe Carrillo Puerto International Airport last December is causing a shake-up in the Mexican Caribbean international arrivals, “stealing” passengers from Cancun International Airport, which has seen a steady decline in visitors throughout most of 2024. 

The current analysis reveals that the resort town of Tulum has contributed to a 6% year-on-year increase in demand for travel between November 2024 and February 2025. At the same time, it seems to be responsible for a significant 9% drop in travelers to Cozumel during the same period.

“Tulum Airport will be a significant attraction pole and connectivity hub for the Mexican Caribbean, contributing significatively to attract more American and international mid-high segment travelers in the coming years,” stated a Mabrian’s spokesperson.

Caribbean Destinations No Longer Attracting American Travelers (at least not like before)

According to the Caribbean Tourism Association (CTO), the United States accounts for over 16.3 million tourists out of 32.2 million that visit the region, with a growing trend of 12.7% year over year.

Despite these figures, the interest in popular destinations like Jamaica and the Bahamas has dropped, with search volumes down by over 17% and 20%, respectively, compared to winter 2023.