Jamaica posts best ever festive week tourism arrivals
Jamaica posted record arrivals and tourism spending in the run-up to Christmas.
Minister of tourism Edmund Bartlett says preliminary data shows arrivals were up nearly 13% and gross tourism earnings rose by 17% in December 21-24, 2018.
Seat capacity was significantly up for the December peak season from markets in the US, Canada, the UK and Northern Europe.
"This is excellent news and shows the strength of Jamaica’s tourism product. We expected a record season and the numbers highlight this fact," Bartlett said.
"Arrivals from our source markets have been growing apace and we have been strategically engaging new and emerging markets to add to this growth."
Jamaica has seen new airlift out of Eastern Europe with new flights operated by Eurowings, Pegas Fly and Nordwind.
Copa Airlines also increased its Panama City to Montego Bay service to daily frequency.
"Airlift remains a key strategy in achieving our growth targets of five million visitors and US$5 billion by 2021 and the numbers show that we are well on our way to meeting these targets," Bartlett added.
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