Trinidad and Tobago Carnival 2026 drives whopping 13% surge in visitor arrivals 

Trinidad and Tobago: The 2026 carnival in Trinidad and Tobago has provided a major boost to the overall tourism sector of the country with officials reporting strong international visitor arrivals as well as hotel performance. They said that these numbers underscore the continued global appeal of the annual festival.

According to the preliminary data from the Immigration Division and the Central Statistical Office (CSO), a total of 54,441 visitors arrived in the twin island nation between January 1 and February 14, 2026. This is further a clear indication of sustained global interest in the premier cultural showcase of the destination as this represents a whopping 13 percent increase over the 48,197 arrivals recorded during the similar period last year, confirmed the Tourism Trinidad Ltd (TTL).

The officials emphasised that of this total, 28,920 passengers arrived in January while 25,521 arrived between February 1 to 14, 2026. CEO of TTL Carla Cupid noted that these figures showcase buoyant global demand for Trinidad and Tobago carnival as well as the positive impact of the ongoing destination marketing and increased airlift.

As the festival approached its peak weekend, hotel performance also received a significant boost with data from CoStar revealing that average occupancy in the month of January stook at 46% with average daily rates of US$172. By the peak weekend of the carnival from February 13-14, occupancy surged to 83.2% while the average price climbed to US$501.86.

Hotel revenue in Trinidad and Tobago between February 1-15 reached US$10.7 million and this has already surpassed last month’s total of US$7 million. Additionally, the cruise sector contributed to the tourism performance of the country with over 8,865 passengers visiting between January 1 and February 15 this year. The main source of cruise visitors was from United States (66%), Canada (17%) and United Kingdom (6%).

The cruise visitors average spend was estimated at US$135 per visitor and the date reveals that the cruise passengers generated an estimated of US$1.19 million in direct economic impact. Moreover, organised tours remained popular among visitors with City and Maracas Tour, Caroni Bird Sanctuary Tour and Maracas Beach Tour leading the way.

Talking about the figures, Minister of Tourism Satyakama Maharaj said that Carnival 2026 continues to showcase the strength of the island’s tourism product. He added that impressive arrivals and record hotel rates reflect growing international demand for the cultural experiences and further reinforce tourism sector’s contribution to economic diversification and foreign exchange generation.