Rashaed Esson
Staff Writer
#Jamaica#Tourism, March 26th, 2024 – Jamaica’s tourism industry is on a road to success with a record earning of USD$1 billion in foreign exchange earnings in the first 2 months of 2024, an increase of 8.5 percent from 2023.
This huge development is due to the arrival of one million nine hundred and sixty-one tourists in those two months, up by 15.1 percent compared to the same period in 2023.
The arrivals can be broken down into two categories namely stopover and cruise. For stopover, there were 611,642 an increase of 7.4 percent from the same time in 2023 and for cruise arrivals, 389,319, an increase of 29.7 percent.
Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett, recently made the announcement at a Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) Caribbean Travel Marketplace press conference at the Jamaica Tourist Board’s office in Kingston. He expressed that this is unprecedented in Jamaica’s tourism history.
As reported by TravelPulse, Bartlett spoke to the growth the nation has seen following the COVID-19 pandemic, which put significant strain on the tourism sector of several countries regionally and globally.
Additionally, he referred to before the pandemic, the year 2019, which was, but no longer the benchmark.
“…but 2023 is now that new benchmark as we broke two important barriers – welcoming four million visitors and earning four point two billion,” he said, adding that Jamaica has once again broken a new record this year with the billion dollar earnings.
Donovan White, Director of Tourism, Jamaica Tourist Board, who also spoke at the event, according to TravelPulse, highlights Jamaica’s unique attractions that keep tourists coming back and well as continued efforts with global tourism partners to maintain tourism growth.
