Durrant Pate/Contributor

Demand for Jamaica as a vacation destination is strong as vacationers rush to book their stays much farther in advance, based on a recent study by Expedia.com

Expedia.com, which is an online travel agency, website and mobile app used to book airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, cruise ships, and vacation packages, has been tracking Jamaica’s strong visitor arrival numbers as the Caribbean nation’s travel demand surged by 50 per cent during the first five months of 2023, compared to the same period in 2019.

The Expedia study found travellers to Jamaica are planning their vacations farther ahead, with 70 per cent of Jamaica-bound travellers booking more than 30 days in advance in 2023, compared with 63 per cent in 2022.

Citing data obtained from Expedia, Jamaica’s early 2023 visitor demand outpaced 2019 in terms of bookings, room nights and length of stay, declared Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett.

Jamaica welcomed its two millionth visitor in June, reflecting a nine per cent increase in arrivals (including both lane-based and cruise ship visitors) compared with June 2019. Tourism officials project that the island will host 3.9 million visitors in 2023.

According to Bartlett, “Expedia’s data “aligns with our visitor arrival data [which shows travellers to Jamaica are arriving in droves to experience all we have to offer”.

He boasted that Jamaica is among the top five Caribbean destinations searched for and booked on Expedia Group’s sites, noting, “On this trajectory, we anticipate an even higher demand for the summer.”

Expedia Group’s Vice-President of Business Development Jennifer Andre commented: “Jamaica continues to be a leading destination within the Caribbean for Expedia Group travellers, and we are thrilled to see the island’s strong recovery.”

She continued: “Together with [JTB], we look forward to keeping the strong momentum going by generating travel demand to the island through tailored distribution and marketing efforts.”