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Hotel Room Occupancy Increased By 3.5% In 2004

May 25, 2005

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Hotel room occupancy in the tourism sector increased by 3.5 per cent in 2004, moving to 61.4 per cent, up from 57. 9 per cent, and registering in the 60 per cent range for the first time since 1995.
Minister of Industry and Tourism, Aloun Ndombet-Assamba made the disclosure during her 2005/06 Sectoral Debate presentation in the House of Representatives, yesterday (May 24).
She informed that the number of stop over visitors who stayed in hotel accommodations in 2004 was 928,524, an increase of 5.1 per cent compared to the previous year. This increase, the Minister said, had a positive impact on hotel room occupancy, with total room nights sold totalling 3,133,963, an increase of 5.5 per cent from the previous figure for 2003.
“All three major resort areas, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios and Negril experienced increased levels in the rate of hotel room occupancy. However, Ocho Rios was the only one of the three to experience a decline in the level of the number of room nights sold,” she reported.
In Montego Bay, the annual hotel room occupancy rate was 63.5 per cent, which was more than five per cent higher than the 58.4 per cent recorded in 2003. The total number of room nights sold increased by five per cent, the Minister said, moving from 1,048,516 in 2003 to 1,101,273 in 2004.
Meanwhile, gross visitor expenditure for the year was estimated at US$1.437 billion, representing an increase of 6.4 per cent against the US$1.351 billion earned in 2003.
In addition, Mrs. Assamba said foreign nationals spent an average of US$102 per person per night, while cruise passengers spent an average of US$84 per person.

Last Updated: May 25, 2005

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