Jamaica celebrated an overall market growth of 5.4 percent for the first six months of the year, with stopover tourist arrivals increasing by 5.9 percent and cruise by 4.8 percent over the same period last year, according to the latest statistics from the Jamaica Tourist Board.
For the period January to June 2018, Jamaica recorded over 1.25 million stopover arrivals and over 1 million cruise arrivals. This means the island welcomed over 100,000 more tourists year-on-year and earned a sizeable increase in foreign exchange earnings. Stopover arrivals accounted for US$1.459 billion in earnings and cruise accounted for US$100.6 million, totaling US$1.556 billion, which represents an increase of 7.3 percent.
The Tourist Board said that initiatives led by Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett and Director of Tourism Donovan White successfully mitigated the possible negative outcomes that could have resulted from the enhanced security measures implemented in the parish of St. James in January of this year.
During a press conference at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James, Minister Bartlett reported that “the strong on-the-ground marketing engagements which brought us face to face with key stakeholders here and around the world, have helped to not only stave off any fall-out from these measures but also increased growth in arrivals to our shores.”
Source: Jamaica Tourist Board
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