Jamaica’s Tourism Earnings Since January Total US$1.2 Billion

Jamaica has earned US$1.2 billion from 1.1 million visitor arrivals since the start of the year.

This was revealed by Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, at a Jamaica Information Service ‘Think Tank’ at the agency’s head office in Kingston on Tuesday (September 21).

“That performance is seeing a 22 per cent increase in our earnings, up by some US$212 million and our arrivals are up from 800,000 last year to 1.1 million this year,” he noted.

He said that most of the visitors to the island were from the United States (US), as other markets such as the United Kingdom (UK) and Canada had various coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions, which prevented persons from travelling.

Minister Bartlett pointed out that with the increase in earnings and visitor arrivals, the industry is playing a pivotal role in the country’s post pandemic recovery.

“We brought back more than 60,000 workers to their jobs, which were lost as a result of the pandemic,” he noted.

He said that the industry has been “shrewd” in the COVID-19 recovery process and is focused on sustainability “as the centerpiece of the way forward”.

“There is, therefore, no better industry to increase revenues for Jamaica, restore jobs and generate new opportunities in communities across the country than the tourism industry,” said Minister Bartlett.