Jamaica Hopes Peak Season Can Drive Tourism Recovery

With the peak season set to get underway this week, tourism officials are expressing cautious optimism that the industry will continue to experience a recovery in Jamaica.

On Saturday, more than 4,000 passengers arrived on the island: the highest daily arrival count since borders reopened on June 15th.

This boost includes the resumption of British Airways’ service from London Gatwick to Montego Bay.

The inaugural flight carried 312 passengers plus crew, with the service set to operate twice weekly on Tuesdays and Saturdays until April.

Between November 1st-28th, Jamaica welcomed over 65,000 visitors, an increase over the approximately 58,000 seen the previous month.

Since the country reopened her borders, some 308,864 visitors have travelled to the island.

“We are happy to welcome the return of British Airways to Montego Bay for the winter season, adding to their current service to Kingston,” said Donovan White, Jamaica director of tourism.

“The increased capacity, in addition to our series of travel agent familiarization tours, will serve to boost our arrivals and demonstrate an increased interest in Jamaica.

“We hope these increasing numbers are an indication of the trend going forward as we continue our robust marketing and promotion efforts.”

Last month, the Jamaica Tourist Board resumed on-island fam tours to ensure that travel specialists are equipped to share updates on the destination with their customers and boost business.

Over the past few weeks, travel specialists have reported an increase in enquiries and are confident that interest will remain high for Jamaica.