Jamaica’s Minister Of Tourism Announces One Million Visitor Arrivals To Date For 2023
At a destination press briefing held at the 41st Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) Caribbean Travel Marketplace in Barbados, Jamaica‟s Minister of Tourism the Hon. Edmund Bartlett announced that Jamaica has surpassed one million visitor arrivals year-to-date for 2023, reaching this milestone approximately one month earlier than in 2022.
He also updated attending media about Jamaica‟s robust tourism arrivals, investments, and work to build resilience for the industry on island and throughout the world.
“From January through December 2022 Jamaica welcomed 2,478,386 stopover arrivals, a 69.2% increase over 2021 and nearly a full recovery to 2019 highs,” said Minister Bartlett.
“As of May 10, we received over a million visitor arrivals to date this year, putting our
destination on par with 2019 records. 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 5 million visitors in 2025.”
Minister Bartlett continued, “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.”
“Further, Jamaica has implemented the Blue Ocean Strategy to develop a more sustainable,
diverse tourism product,” concluded Minister Bartlett. “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.”
“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,” added Donovan White, Director of Tourism, Jamaica
Tourist Board. “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.”
Minister Bartlett also noted that Jamaica is leveraging key pillars for tourism that showcase
the destination‟s unique culture and heritage while simultaneously addressing the desire from
today‟s traveler to experience more than just sun, sea and sand. He also emphasized the need
to carefully manage the tourism industry through resilience building where it can continually
adapt to issues that may arise and to put plans in place to protect it from potential future
shocks.
