Jamaica’s Tourism Recovery Gets Boost From TUI

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says airline and cruise partners are clearly impressed with Jamaica’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and have been showing a renewed interest in the island as a destination of choice.

“It is clear that our resilient corridors [where visitors are restricted to certain prescribed areas that are approved and given the greenlight for movement by the Tourism Product Development Company and under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and Wellness] have been working,” Mr. Bartlett said in an interview with JIS News by phone.

“We have been having some great news over the past couple of weeks, and which bodes well for our tourism and economic recovery.”

Minister Bartlett’s comments were in response to the planned return of TUI, the world’s largest tourism company and that Carnival and Royal Caribbean (the world’s two biggest cruise companies) have committed to bringing back a fleet of vessels to the island over the next 12 months.

The announcement of TUI’s return follows the Government of Great Britain’s decision to lift its advisory against all non-essential travel to Jamaica.

TUI is expected to restart flights to the island in a matter of days, after suspending them in August in response to the UK’s advice to its residents against non-essential travel to the island due to the COVID-19 threat, which dealt a major blow to tourism.

Minister Bartlett said TUI’s decision is “welcome news for our tourism industry”, adding that “this has removed the uncertainty that confronted us from the UK market, which is among our largest source markets for travellers”.

“TUI’s return will be a game changer, as it will spur a steady flow of visitors from the UK on which many local properties and tourism partners depend. So, the economic impact will be significant not just for tourism but the wider economy as well,” he added.

“TUI flights will resume as early as next weekend with the airline bringing in some six flights a week, providing 1,800 to 2,000 seats. We’re looking at some 10,000 room nights at hotels with tremendous spin-off for accommodation and other subsectors, particularly attraction and transportation, which means employment for more workers and the economic benefits for their families.”

He added: “With TUI now back on schedule, Jamaica’s tourism recovery is well on track to regaining lost ground and puts us closer to returning to pre-COVID record numbers.”

In 2019, TUI carried 11.8 million airline passengers globally. It is the world’s leading tourism group. The broad portfolio gathered under the Group’s umbrella consists of strong tour operators, some 1,600 travel agencies and leading online portals, five airlines with around 150 aircraft, approximately 400 hotels, about 15 cruise liners and many incoming agencies in all major holiday destinations across the globe. It covers the entire tourism value chain under one roof.

Minister Bartlett, in the meantime, said that dialogue with cruise-shipping partners during a series of meetings in Miami, Florida over the past two weeks “was very fruitful” and shows, once again, that Jamaica is still “a preferred destination”.

“Our cruise-shipping industry is well on its way back,” the Minister declared. “We have secured some serious commitments from some of the major cruise lines and which should significantly boost our visitor arrivals over the coming months.”