The number of tourists who came to Jamaica in 2022 increased by 117 percent from 2021, totaling 3.3 million.
“Monthly stopover arrivals began to surpass 2019 figures as of June 2022 and it is expected that 2023 will show a full recovery in our annual figures, ahead of previous estimates that full recovery would occur in 2024,” said Edmund Bartlett, Jamaica’s minister of tourism.
“Before even completing the first six months of this year, we have already received 2 million visitors from our stopover and cruise arrivals,” he added.
“This translates into record earnings of $2 billion, a whopping 18 percent above the 2019 earnings for the same time period. It should be no surprise then that Jamaica is bracing for the best summer tourist season ever.”
According to April ForwardKeys Air Ticket Data, air travel bookings for summer 2023 are anticipated to rise by as much as 33% over those for summer 2019.
“2022 turned out to be quite a successful year for us in terms of recovering arrivals and earnings, due in part to our integrated marketing push throughout the US.,” said Donovan White, director of tourism of the Jamaica Tourist Board.
“With 2023 already posting robust numbers, we are very optimistic about the outlook for growth this year and beyond.”
According to the Jamaica Tourist Board, the US is Jamaica’s main visitor source, accounting for 75 of all visitors.
“For the full year 2023, it is expected that Jamaica will show a full recovery in its annual figures with projections of 3.9 million visitors and foreign exchange earnings of $4.3 billion, ahead of previous estimates for full recovery in 2024,” the tourist board said.