WILLEMSTAD - The tourism sector continues to show very positive figures, contributing to job creation, foreign currency reserves, and our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This was the central message during the first press conference of the tourism partners in Curaçao for the year 2024. Minister of Economic Development, Mr. Ruisandro Cijntje, along with his ministry, the Curaçao Tourist Board (CTB), the Curaçao Hospitality & Tourism Association (CHATA), and the Curaçao Ports Authority (CPA) came together to provide an overview of the tourism developments in 2023 and for the first four months of 2024.
During this press conference, the CTB reported that in the first four months of 2024, Curaçao received a total of 242,680 stay-over tourists, which represents a 31% increase compared to the same period in 2023. During this period, tourists stayed a total of 2.1 million nights on our island. For this year, Curaçao will see an additional 232,000 airline seats from different markets, bringing the total to 1.2 million seats. In the past period, CTB participated in various tourism fairs in our target markets and coordinated for different international television programs to film in Curaçao. These include Brazil's GLOBO TV and the Netherlands' Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden. CTB also ensured Curaçao's advertisements in various public areas abroad, such as train stations in New York, and extended promotional agreements with, among others, the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins.
The 'Her & Bijscholing' training program also continues successfully. A total of 500 people completed these courses, while 300 workers in the tourism industry also attended the Service Excellence seminar by the Disney World training institution.
Regarding our hotel sector, CHATA reported that in the first months of 2024, hotels in Curaçao achieved an occupancy rate of 72.8%, which is slightly higher than the 72.7% during the same period in 2023. Despite this being a modest increase, these figures indicate stability in our number of visitors and length of stay. The Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) increased by 7.9%, from $163.47 in April 2023 to $176.43 in April 2024. As for the Average Daily Rate (ADR), Curaçao also saw a healthy increase of no less than 7.8%, resulting in a total of $242.42 in April 2024 compared to $224.85 the previous year. These figures highlight our ability to improve value while maintaining competitive prices at the same time. Hotel performance up to April 2024 shows a satisfactory cumulative increase in our RevPAR from $174.09 in 2023 to $205.55 in the same period in 2024.
CPA announced that Curaçao welcomed a total of 286 cruise ships in 2023, marking a 2% increase compared to the 2022 figures. Notably, we received 710,623 cruise tourists in this period, a substantial increase of 33% compared to the previous year. These developments can be attributed to, among other things, consistent occupancy rates and an increase in the number of visitors through large ships.
Looking at the first four months of 2024, the positive developments continue with a total of 429,744 cruise tourists visiting our island via 163 cruise ships, representing a 16% increase in cruise tourists and an 11% increase in cruise ships compared to the first four months of 2023. Additionally, the average occupancy rate during this period in 2024 reached 92%.
Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruises, and Celebrity Cruises were the cruise lines that visited our island the most. Considering the various sub-ships, Royal Caribbean Group and Carnival Corporation are the best represented with 46% and 36% of our market, respectively, while Norwegian Cruise Line accounts for 10% of the total number of cruise passengers. CPA is pleased with this positive trajectory and projects that 80,000 tourist passengers will potentially visit our island by the end of 2024.
Regarding the economic impact of tourism, MEO concludes that 2023 was also a very successful year. This success is attributed to the growth of both stayover tourism, surpassing the record of 500,000 tourists, and cruise tourism in 2023. In 2023, the tourism sector generated a total of 4.089 billion florins for our economy compared to 3.344 billion florins in 2022 after a recalculation in the Tourism Model, which was updated this year. This represents a growth percentage of 22%. For the first quarter of 2024, MEO estimates that the tourism sector generated a total of 1.752 billion florins. This is based on a record number of tourists, exceeding a 20% growth each month compared to the same months in 2023. For the remainder of 2024, MEO projects that tourism will have a very positive contribution to Curaçao's Gross Domestic Product. MEO, together with CTB, is focused on executing a short-term "carrying capacity" study of tourism to ensure sustainable and responsible tourism development and growth, as well as initiating an investigation to realize a Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) for Curaçao. This will provide broader and more direct data on the impact of tourism based on more indicators than just the number of tourists visiting.