Winter hot for Jamaica tourist arrivals

The Tourism Ministers says the country had higher than expected 2010/2011 winter season arrivals.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Wednesday April 20, 2011 – Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has revealed that the increase in stopover arrivals to Jamaica during the 2010-2011 Winter Tourist Season, which came to an end on April 15, was even greater than anticipated.

“Our preliminary figures show that we have achieved 5.6% growth, in stopover arrivals between December 15 and April 15, which is in-keeping with our growth projections of four to five percent,” he said while addressing the opening ceremony of the Fourth annual Tourism Outlook Seminar at the Half Moon Conference Centre yesterday.

“We are reporting yet another record in stopover arrivals, as 743,776 visitors arrived over the period, up from 704,320 for the same period in 2010.”

The Tourism Minister also had very good news regarding the rebounding cruise sector. He outlined that Jamaica recorded a 9.6 percent increase in cruise arrivals during the winter tourist season, over the same period in 2010.

That brings the total number of visitors for the period to 1,142,548 – a seven percent increase over last year.

The Tourism Minister outlined that the performance of the industry has resulted in major foreign exchange earnings for Jamaica of US$852.6 million, significantly more than the US$ 804.5 million earned over the same period last year.

“The stage is now set for yet another remarkable year of performance in terms of arrivals and foreign exchange earnings for Jamaica’s vibrant tourism industry,” Minister Bartlett said.

Click here to receive free news bulletins via email from Caribbean360. (View sample)