The island continues its efforts to achieve their 2022 projections, which is a total visitor arrivals of 3.2 million and total revenue of US$3.3 billion
Jamaica recently announced that it had welcomed more than one million stopover visitors to the island, as on June 15, 2022. The arrival figures from the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) are a pointer that the sector is returning to pre-pandemic times. The island continues its efforts to achieve their 2022 projections, which is a total visitor arrivals of 3.2 million and total revenue of US$3.3 billion.
Tourism arrivals for 2023 are projected to reach 3.7 million and $3.5 billion in earnings, with 2024 expected to surpass 2019 levels with 4.2 million visitors and $4 billion in revenue.
ETTravelWorld reported that India was an important market for the island country and it saw great opportunity with the Indian wedding market. “The Indian market has immense potential and Jamaica has large scope in providing unmatched holiday options to discerning travellers from India,” according to Donovan White, Director of Tourism, Jamaica.
“PostCovid, the demographic of travellers has changed. The new age travellers are younger, more adventurous and want to travel to long haul destinations. Jamaica offers so much variety and culture, which also resembles some aspects of Indian culture; we believe that we can make a very good push to get more Indian travellers,” White said.
“There are two airports in Jamaica located in Kingston and Montego Bay. All major international airlines are operating to Jamaica via various transit points. In discussions at the just concluded Arabian Travel Market, Emirates Airlines has started selling seats to Jamaica.”
According to White, prior to the pandemic, tourist arrival records (from India) were being achieved on a frequent basis. “We have welcomed 4.3 million visitors in 2019, and while the fallout of Covid-19 disruption has been significant, life is now returning to normal, with a forecast of a full rebound in visitor numbers by 2024 at the latest,” White said.
Direct connectivity between the two countries has been a challenge for Indians who want to visit Jamaica and the Jamaica Tourist Bureau is aware of that. “There are two airports in Jamaica located in Kingston and Montego Bay. All major international airlines are operating to Jamaica via various transit points. In discussions at the just concluded Arabian Travel Market, Emirates Airlines has started selling seats to Jamaica.”
The flights are for Kingston and Montego Bay and offer connections with New York, Newark, Boston and Orlando. There is also an option to travel through Italy,” White said, adding, “However, we are very keen to open new routes between India and Jamaica, making the destination more accessible for Indian tourists.” White also mentioned that Jamaica’s key strategy for India was to further enhance visibility as well as awareness and continue to engage the key Indian travel trade with partners from Jamaica.
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