Jamaica earned US$4.3 billion from the tourism industry last year, with an estimated 4.3 million tourist visiting the country, the island’s Minister of Tourism 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 US$5 billion 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.
In October last year, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said that a new international airport will be established in the tourist resort town of Negril in the western end of the island.
Also last October, the Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ) said it had identified a site for the establishment of the country’s fourth international airport in Negril. CEO of the AAJ, Audley Deidrick, explained that the directive given to the AAJ by the Government was to determine the extent to which the Negril Aerodrome could be upgraded to an international airport, and consultants were hired to develop a master plan to transform the facility.
“We engaged consultants to do the necessary studies and out of those studies it has emerged that the present aerodrome is not suitable for development of a major international airport, taking flights using aircraft the size of a Boeing 737, which is now the most common aircraft utilised by airlines for transport,” Deidrick said.
He said that having done the research in the Negril area, the consultants have located an alternative site, which is within 15 to 20 minutes of the tourism belt and the Negril seven-mile beach.
Deidrick said plans are now being crafted for the development of this international airport, which is expected to ease some of the pressure off the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay.
“This is to alleviate the challenges that tourists flying into Montego Bay face getting into Negril, a long journey which, at times, can become longer depending on traffic and road conditions,” he noted.
The President and CEO contended that the establishment of the facility will augur well for the growth of western Jamaica.
“In addition to catering to tourism traffic for the Negril facilities and properties, we posit that an airport in that part of Jamaica will also open up the western part of Jamaica to various forms of further economic development,” he noted.
Deidrick said it could also be an alternative for persons in the western parishes of St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Hanover and even parts of St. James.
Speaking to travel advisors at the Sandals Jamaica Love sales event last October, Holness also announced plans for a new passenger terminal at the Sangster International Airport in the western city of Montego Bay.
At the event, the Jamaican prime minister also outlined the ongoing US$320-million South coast highway that will link Harbour View in East Kingston to Port Antonio, in the eastern parish of Portland; the US$225-million perimeter road being built out of Montego Bay; the Lucea bypass road in the western parish of Hanover that would “cost a massive investment” and “spending, in five years, more money than had been spent in the previous 30 years” to make the country more secure. (CMC)
