Belize is one of the hottest destinations in the region right now, according to the latest data from the country’s tourism board. The country on the Caribbean coast of Central America reported 14.6 percent growth in arrivals last year, one of the fastest growth rates of any destination in the region in 2018. Lifting arrivals to a new record for the country.

That translated to 62,000 more overnight visitors to the country, and a total of 489,261 stay over visitors in the calendar year. In the last 10 years, Belize’s stay over visitors numbers have doubled, starting at 232, 249 in 2009. The number surpassing the one million mark for the third year in a row another record.

In a statement, the Belize Tourism Board pointed to new positioning initiatives and, more crucially, a wave of new flights to the country. The latter included new routes from a range of carriers from WestJet to Southwest Airlines to, most recently, Sun Country Airlines, which launched its first-ever Belize flights from Minnesota. Such flight growth is essential for growing tourism in any Caribbean destination — and it’s a testament to a concerted push by Belize’s decision-makers.

Now, the challenge will be to sustain that growth.