Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says data indicates that the island is set to have a strong Winter Tourist Season, with a steady inflow of tourists, which should enable the destination to end 2021 with an excellent showing of 1.6 million visitors and over US$2 billion in earnings.
“I am delighted to announce that our research shows that Jamaica will have a strong and lucrative Winter Tourist Season. I am extremely grateful that despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, our tourism industry is showing rapid signs of recovery. Hotels and attractions have reopened, most of our tourism workers are back on the job, and visitor arrivals continue to surge,” said Minister Bartlett.
Minister Bartlett said the season, which begins today (Wed), should see similar occupancy levels to 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the island, with the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association JHTA projecting an average of 65 per cent occupancy in hotels across the island.
He further stated that based on recent data, the demand for Jamaica is also 38 per cent of 2019, against the world demand of 24 per cent.