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Sole traders and small operators, providing goods and services to the tourism industry, will now be able to benefit from a $100 million loan facility, which was launched on February 28 by the Ministry of Tourism and Jamaica National Small Business Loans. The ‘Five for Five’ loan scheme, which is being driven by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), is offering...

Provisional figures from the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) show that the tourism industry earned some US$470.4 million from visitor arrivals during the October to December 2010 quarter. Director General of the PIOJ, Professor Gladstone Hutchinson, addressing the quarterly briefing at the Institute's New Kingston offices on Wednesday (February 23), said the earnings reflect increased real value of 5.4 per...

Tourism Minister, the Hon.Edmund Bartlett has revealed that preliminary figures indicate that a record 26,664 stop over visitors arrived in Jamaica between Thursday February 17 and Sunday February 20, 2011. In making the disclosure, Minister Bartlett said the arrivals represent an increase of 6,004 over the 20,660 that arrived over the same period last year. He expressed that “Jamaica’s stop...

Minister of Transport and Works, the Hon Mike Henry, says that while Falmouth will attract much attention for its new cruise ship pier accommodating some of the world’s largest cruise vessels, the Government will not allow Montego Bay and Ocho Rios to wane. “I want us to stop thinking in a declining position, and start thinking of Jamaica,” Mr. Henry...

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has reported a positive turn in the performance of the cruise sector since the start of the year, with the month of January recording a 10.5 per cent growth in cruise passenger arrivals over the similar period last year. “This is very significant, because what it means is that cruise has now turned the...

The town of Falmouth, Trelawny, welcomed its first cruise ship, Voyager of the Seas, with about 4,500 passengers and crew members, bringing to reality the cherished dream of thousands of residents of the parish and western Jamaica on Thursday (February 17). Thousands of residents, and visitors from the cruise ship, were treated to a welcoming event in the town dubbed...

The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) is taking its cue from the sets of Hollywood in its promotion of the island during The New York Times Travel Show. The event is slated for February 26 to 27 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Visitors to the destination’s exhibit booth (#220) can view the JTB’s first-of-its-kind tourism...

Tourism Minister, the Hon. Edmund Bartlett has revealed that a full scale Police investigation is now underway to identify the person or persons who have been swindling job seekers of money, on the basis that they will secure jobs in local and overseas hotels. Speaking at a press conference in Kingston on Thursday February 10, Minister Bartlett said the matter...

Tourism Minister, the Hon. Edmund Bartlett has urged other destinations in the Americas to pursue marketing support arrangements with airlines to ensure airlift security. Minister Bartlett, who was one of the presenters at the Routes Americas Strategy Forum held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on the weekend, noted that “the new architecture of the aviation industry demands partnerships to ensure...

Over US$1 billion in investments for tourism sector over the next two to three years Several new projects that were slated for Jamaica’s tourism industry, but were put on hold due to the global economic depression, are expected to get off the ground starting this year. This is expected to channel some US$1billion in investments into the island’s vibrant tourism...

The marketing of Jamaica’s rich Jewish history and its cultural heritage sites has won the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) a major international award for excellence. The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) gave the Golden Adrian Award to the JTB forpublic relationsexcellence, for its newspaper feature entry, “Jamaica’s New Tourism Spiel: Beaches and Reggae and Jews,” spotlighted in The...

Preliminary figures indicate that the tourism industry has grown by 9.2 per cent since the start of the winter season, with 311,210 stop-over arrivals, up from 285,005 in 2009/2010. Speaking at a press conference Thursday February 10 at the Ministry, New Kingston, Tourism Minister, Hon Edmund Bartlett, pointed out that 26,205 more tourists visited Jamaica, compared to the December-February period...