Aggressive marketing to shore up bumper tourist season in Jamaica

Officials have already projected a five per cent increase in arrivals for the 2011/2012 winter tourist season over the previous corresponding period.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, Monday December 19, 2011 - Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett said the Jamaica Tourist Board will be spearheading an aggressive advertising and marketing initiative for the winter months to increase arrivals.

Officials have already projected a five per cent increase in arrivals for the 2011/2012 winter tourist season over the previous corresponding period.

Minister Bartlett said several new tourist attractions have been established to add to the excitement Jamaica has to offer.

He advised that “Critical to ensuring strong arrival figures for the winter tourist season, is ensuring adequate airlift, and I am proud to say that our seating capacity for the upcoming season remains at adequate levels.”

“Over one million seats have already been secured for the upcoming season, which represents a 4.7 per cent increase over last winter,” he noted.

He said the seat availability will enable the arrival of approximately 769,000 visitors for the winter months, which will represent a five per cent increase over last season.

“We also expect some 583,000 cruise ship passengers, bringing the total (number of) visitors projected to arrive in Jamaica for the winter season to some 1.3 million,” he stated.

The tourism minister appealed to Jamaicans to prove to the world that democracy is alive and well in Jamaica, by being peaceful, calm and tolerant of each other’s views, during the campaigning leading up to, and immediately following, the December 29 general election. Click here to receive free news bulletins via email from Caribbean360. (View sample)