KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Jamaica earned US$4.3 billion from the tourism industry last year, with an estimated 4.3 million tourists visiting the country, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has said. Speaking on the JIS Television Programme ‘Get the Facts’, Bartlett said the sector finished the year strong, despite the slight shortfall in arrival figures due to aviation disruptions, Hurricane Beryl and geopolitical issues such as travel advisories. “We had 68,000 less seats into Jamaica, which meant there was a natural reduction in the projected figures in terms of arrivals. Tourism, as you know, is resilient. Notwithstanding those disruptions, we are coming out of the year with a small increase in arrivals but the earnings are in line with what we projected,” Bartlett said. He told viewers that Jamaica is on track to realise its 5x5x5 growth strategy of five million visitors and earnings of five billion US dollars by 2025. Bartlett noted that 1.6 million airline seats have been secured, so far, for the winter season, which, he said, “is the largest amount ever. “Assuming an 80 per cent load factor, that is to say, the plane is coming 80 per cent full, we would bring 1.3 million visitors in that space, and that’s a 12.9 per cent increase over last year. So, the winter is strong, and winter is the strongest period for earnings in tourism, and so we anticipate a very strong first quarter of 2025. “That would set the pace for the rest of 2025, providing, of course, there aren’t any other weather distractions and disruptions as we call it. But the key in all of this is that you build capacity to respond effectively to disruptions, and that’s resilience and that’s what has become a guiding principle for tourism management in Jamaica – resilience,” Bartlett added.
