JAMAICA: Jamaica Tourism Arrivals Increase By 2.2%

Stayover tourist arrivals in Jamaica this year are up 2.2 percent, according to the country’s Director of Tourism, Paul Pennicook.

That number covered the winter tourist season from Dec. 15 to April 30.

That is roughly in line with the average results of the Caribbean (excepting Cuba) in the last year, and represented a total of 773, 110.

While tourism arrivals from the United States have shown strong growth of 5.9 percent, Canadian stopover arrivals are down by 11.6 percent.

“The Jamaica Tourist Board will be doing a lot of work in Canada,” Pennicook said at the recent JHTA annual general meeting in Ocho Rios.

Stayover arrivals lagged cruise visits, however; the country reported 745,220 cruise passenger arrivals in the winter tourist season.

Pennicook said the country’s tourism officials had been looking to new markets, particularly the developing world.

“We have identified three regions in terms of emerging markets which will help us to meet our targets. They are Latin America, Northern and Eastern Europe, and Asia,” he said.