A jewel in the Caribbean tourism industry crown; Jamaica recorded a 3.6 per cent increase in tourist arrivals and an estimated US$2.2 billion in revenue in 2014. Jamaica welcomed more than two million stopover visitors during last year as compared to 2013.
Between January and December 2014, the Caribbean island welcomed 2,080,181stopover visitors, an increase of 3.6 per cent over the 2,008,004 stopover visitors recorded for 2013. The increase is represented by the increase in visitors from island’s source markets; Europe arrivals grow by 10.7 per cent; Canada 5.2 per cent and the United States 2 per cent.
Tourism and Entertainment Minister, Dr. Wykeham McNeill said that there had also been a 9.2 per cent increase from the Asian market. In 2014, the island welcomed 1,423, 797 cruise visitors, which represents an increase of 12.5 per cent over 2013.
So, in total, Jamaica welcomed some 3.5 million visitors to the island in 2014,” McNeill said, noting that for December 2014, the first month of the current Winter Tourist season, arrivals recorded an increase of 5.9 per cent over 2013, with 213,129, and that cruise ship was also up 12.6 per cent.
McNeill said that preliminary arrival figures for January 2015 are very promising and from all indications, Jamaica should experience a very strong winter season, and that things are shaping up for the summer.
Source: Caribbean360
