Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett announced that the Ministry of Tourism of Jamaica is set to sign a major agreement with Airbnb to augment and drive growth within the tourism industry.
The announcement was made during the meeting with Airbnb executives which was held at the ministry’s New Kingston offices. The meeting spoke about the potential impact of the agreement and how the community tourism will see an upgrade following its implication. Both the parties are eager to finalise a memorandum of understanding to concretise the partnership.
Bartlett stated that they are very happy to be partnering with Airbnb and know that it will be mutually beneficial to both entities involved. The agreement is expected to take into account the goal of destination assurance of Jamaica. It will eventually help to ensure the credibility of Jamaica in the marketplace. Using the analytics across the social platforms of Airbnb will also help to promote the tourism campaign.
According to Airbnb’s executive with responsibility for public policy in Latin America and the Caribbean, Shawn Sullivan, the market for Airbnb in Jamaica is rapidly growing and is extremely lucrative. The site currently accounts for 2,300 active hosts and 4,000 active listings in the past year from Jamaica.
In the Caribbean, people generally rent their entire home. However, in Jamaica, there is a mixture between private homes versus a private space in someone’s home. Sullivan from Airbnb said that they were responsible for bringing in roughly 32,000 tourists within the past year and believes that this collaboration will allow to grow exponentially.
Airbnb is a community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique accommodations around the world online or from a mobile phone or tablet. It connects people to unique travel experiences, at any price point, in more than 34,000 cities and 191 countries. With a growing community of users, Airbnb is one of the easiest ways for people to monetise their extra space and showcase it to an audience of millions.
