Above: Ile a Vache in Haiti

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti is reporting a 21.1 percent increase in tourist arrivals in 2014, according to third-quarter numbers reported by the country’s Ministry of Tourism.

Haiti welcomed 362,890 stayover arrivals in the first nine months of 2014, according to the Ministry, up from 299,686 for the same period.

The rate is the second-highest in the Caribbean region for 2014, according to an analysis of Caribbean Tourism Organization data by Caribbean Journal.

Last year, Haiti reported a 20.3 percent increase in tourist arrivals for the full year.

In the same three-quarter period, the country welcomed 477,128 cruise passengers to Haiti’s Labadee cruise port.

The government also released a study this week finding that the average tourist spends $160 USD per day in Haiti, with an average length of stay of three days.

Overall, stayover visitors contributed $174.2 million in the first nine months of the year.

The numbers are a strong sign for a country that has been making a concerted effort to revive its tourist sector in recent years.