Tourism is one of the Caribbean's major economic sectors, with 25 million visitors contributing $49 billion towards the area's gross domestic product in 2013, which represented 14% of its total GDP.

The early seaside resorts were developed primarily for curative benefits of bathing[a] in the sea and breathing the warm, ozone-laden air.

According to an anthropologist, Barbados was referred to as the "sanatorium of the West Indies" in guidebooks because of its fresh water, sea air, and absence of malaria.

[5] The mineral hot springs and the hotel attracted visitors such as Prince William Henry, Lord Nelson and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

[9] Tourism became an economically important industry as Caribbean bananas, sugar, and bauxite were no longer competitively priced with the advent of free-trade policies.

[10] Regular non-stop international airplane flights in the 1960s made vacations to the Caribbean more affordable and increased the number of visitors.

Friendly native people, a warm climate, very few pests or disease, and natural beauty made it an attractive holiday option.

[9] Tourism is one of the region's major economic sectors, with 25 million visitors contributing $49 billion towards the area's gross domestic product in 2013, which represented 14% of its total GDP.

[citation needed] It provides a steady revenue stream, with temporary blips due to hurricanes or recessions in the Western world[17] and supports local farming, fishing, and retail industries.

By 2006, tourism brought in ten times more to the Barbados economy than sugar cane production, $167 million versus $14.5 billion.

[19] Besides hotels and restaurants, services to tourism have required additional infrastructure, including: airports, roads, sewage treatment plants, landfills, electricity supply and telephones.

Locals are denied access to their own beaches, the best jobs go to non-nationals or those with the lightest skin, and humble service roles and low-wage jobs predominate in the tourism sector.Tourist attraction of the region are those generally associated with a maritime tropical climate: Scuba diving and snorkeling on coral reefs, cruises, sailing, and game fishing at sea.

On land; golf, botanical gardens, parks, limestone caves, wildlife reserves, hiking, cycling and horseback riding.

[26] The recent studies shows that some Caribbean islands, like Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico has a huge potential for mountaineering activity, however, it is not utilized properly.

He highlights the U.S. attempt in the 1930s to make Puerto Rico an island destination for tourists to bring in a new source of revenue to the U.S. and help lift it out of economic depression.

[29] The creation of the Caribe Hilton Hotel in San Juan in 1949 represented a partnership between the Puerto Rican government and U.S business.

In the 1950s, Old San Juan was restored by the Puerto Rican government in order to attract American visitors interested in the history of the island.

The recent increase in cruise ship popularity has led to pollution of coastal waters through the emission of oil, sewage and lubricants.

In the water around George Town, Cayman Islands, cruise ship anchors were responsible for the damage of 300 acres of reef habitat.

Boat propellers also harm or kill slow moving animals such as sea turtles that live near the water surface.