Jamaica has seen a big jump in visitor arrivals in recent weeks with more than more than 4,000 passengers arriving on the island in one day alone last week.

This represented the highest daily arrival count since the reopening of Jamaica’s borders on June 15, having been shut earlier in the year because of COVID-19.

Figures released by the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) showed that between November 1 and 28, Jamaica welcomed more than 65,000 tourists, which is an increase over the previous month’s approximately 58,000 passengers.

Since June 15, when the country reopened its borders, some 400,000 visitors have travelled to the island. Based on this trend, the JTB is expressing cautious optimism as the winter tourist season peaks.

British market flopped because of banned flights

Last Monday (December 21), British Airways resumed its service from London Gatwick to Montego Bay to boosts the air service with 312 passengers and crew on its inaugural flight to the island.

It was planned to operate twice-weekly flights on Tuesdays and Saturdays until April 2021 but this was scrapped due to the new strain of the coronavirus being discovered in England.

This has resulted in all flights from the United Kingdom into Jamaica being banned for a period of two weeks. At the time, Director of Tourism Donovan White was happy to welcome the return of British Airways to Montego Bay for the winter season, adding to its current service into Kingston.

He stated that, “the increased capacity, in addition to our series of travel agent familiarisation tours, will serve to boost our arrivals and demonstrate an increased interest in Jamaica. We hope these increasing numbers are an indication of the trend going forward as we continue our robust marketing and promotion efforts”.

Resumption of familiarisation tours

Last month, the JTB resumed on-island familiarisation tours to ensure that travel agents and buyers are equipped to share updates on the destination with their customers and boost business. Over the past few weeks, travel specialists have reported an increase in inquiries and are confident that interest will remain high for Jamaica.

The island’s primary source market, the United States, resumed its familiarisation trip schedule in November. The series will continue through December with agents from the various markets across the US and Canada and will culminate in January 2021.

One such individual on the familiarisation trip, Claire Robinson, the owner of Claire Skies Travel and one of the JTB’s Top 50 agents, recently participated in a Northeast Luxury Familiarisation tour, which she gave a thumbs up. She emphasised that Jamaica remains popular, adding that she was part of a full flight to Montego Bay from Baltimore.

 “It caught me totally by surprise as this period is between Thanksgiving and Christmas,” she said. “Thanks to the efforts of the Jamaica Tourist Board and the Ministry of Health and Wellness in making the COVID-19 process a breeze, I was pleased to visit several resorts in Negril and Montego Bay to get an update on the product,” Robinson said.