Jamaica’s tourism industry has almost completely recovered from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had threatened the very survival of the sector. The revelation was made by Edmund Bartlett, Jamaica’s minister of tourism, during a meeting with members of a delegation from the Republic of Namibia, led by Christine Hoebes, the African nation’s minister in the presidency.
Bartlett said, “The good news is that Jamaica has now recovered 90 percent from the COVID-19 pandemic in the tourism sector,” adding that “our recovery in terms of arrivals this year is likely to be well over 3 million, and we are also expecting our earnings will be just about $100 million, or so, below our best earnings in 2019 of $3.7 billion.”
Bartlett highlighted that Jamaica’s main source markets are also rebounding strongly from the pandemic. He added that the U.K. is the only market where “we are pacing ahead of 2019” figures, noting that compared to pre-COVID numbers “we are six percent ahead in the U.K. market.”
The discussion with members of the delegation followed a meeting of the Jamaica-Namibia Joint Committee, where agreements were signed in several areas including tourism, logistics, urban development and diaspora cooperation.
Bartlett said that “The U.S. has come back very strongly, and while Canada is lagging behind a little, progress is being made.” He added that based on Jamaica’s tourism recovery, “we can give some help and support in terms of Namibia’s own recovery program.”
As part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which covers tourism, Jamaica and Namibia will collaborate in areas such as marketing, human capital development, sustainability and resilience building. Bartlett noted that this will entail working with officials in Namibia to facilitate the establishment of a satellite center of the Jamaica-based Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) in the coming months.
In response, Hoebes noted that this would strengthen the collaboration between the two countries, adding that “the agreement will put Namibia in a better place” regarding cruise tourism, especially from the port in Montego Bay, Jamaica to the port in Walvis Bay, Namibia. She expressed that her country is also looking forward to emulating that which “attracts tourists to Jamaica and keep them coming back.”
For more details, visit www.visitjamaica.com.
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