Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett declared at just-ended Caribbean Travel Marketplace in Barbados

Jamaica has surpassed one million visitor arrivals year-to-date, reaching this milestone approximately one month earlier than in 2022.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett made the disclosure at the just-ended 41st Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) Caribbean Travel Marketplace in Barbados.

He updated attending media at the event about Jamaica’s robust tourism arrivals, investments, and work to build tourism resilience for the island and throughout the world.

From January through December 2022, Jamaica welcomed 2,478,386 stopover arrivals, a 69.2 per cent increase over 2021 and nearly a full recovery to 2019 highs.

As of May 10, Jamaica received over a million visitor arrivals to date this year, putting the  destination on par with 2019’s record.

Steady growth in arrivals

According to Bartlett, “We have seen steady growth in our arrivals and continued investment in the tourism sector, which is a tremendous achievement. Projecting ahead for 2023 through 2025, we expect to attract more than 3.8 million visitors in 2023 and grow to more than five million visitors in 2025.” 

“To keep this growth on an upward trajectory, we continue to build out new air service with new flights this year from Chicago, Midway, Denver, St. Louis, Dallas, Kansas City, and London Gatwick. Plus, we are expanding and modernizing Sangster International Airport and have approximately 8,000 new hotel rooms slated for construction over the next two to five years,” Bartlett remarked further.

The minister cited Jamaica’s implementation of the Blue Ocean Strategy to develop a more sustainable, diverse tourism product.

“We have also established Global Tourism Resilience Day with the United Nations to take place annually on February 17 with the aim of growing awareness for tourism to build back stronger and take steps to protect itself from future disruptions,” added Bartlett.

For his part, Director of Tourism, Donovan White commented, “The fact that Jamaica’s tourism arrivals continue to rise is a clear testament to the success of our internal strategies, destination marketing initiatives and relationships with key travel partners on island and worldwide….We are very grateful to all who have contributed to Jamaica’s success in lifting our tourism product to new heights meeting and soon to exceed 2019 record levels.”