Tourism in the Caribbean Island nation of Jamaica is off to a solid start in 2023 as the country received 1.18 million visitors and tourism spending reached a record USD 1.15 billion.

Caribbean island destination Jamaica experienced its biggest and best winter tourism season in history in first quarter of 2023 and the island is on track for a continued travel industry boom for the foreseeable future.

Between January and March of 2023, Jamaica received 1.18 million visitors, Jamaica’s minister of tourism Edmund Bartlett recently told the Parliament, while opening Jamaica’s Sectoral Debate.The visitor levels for early 2023 represent growth of 94.4 pc over the same period in 2022.

The visitors triggered record earnings of USD 1.15 billion, which is 46.4 pc higher than the same period a year earlier, when earnings were USD 786.8 million. Bartlett told the Parliament that arrivals in Jamaica were up by 117 pc during 2022, while earnings for the year were also up year-over-year by 71.4 pc compared to 2021. Bartlett said that in all, Jamaica welcomed 3.3 million visitors in last year and the industry generated USD 3.7 billion.

Bartlett told the Parliament that Jamaica gained significant post-outbreak momentum in 2022, when US travel to the island surged. The Caribbean destination achieved its best-ever summer season in terms of tourist arrivals in 2022. The projections for 2024 for the island are equally impressive. Jamaica expects its tourism industry to generate about USD 4.1 billion next year.

“If there was ever an industry that has the potential to transform our nation, our communities and the lives and livelihoods of the Jamaican people for the better, it is tourism,” Bartlett told Parliament, according to newsreports.

Thanks to the bustling tourism industry, Jamaica’s real gross domestic product (GDP) for the economy is projected to grow by 3-5 pc from January through March 2023, compared to the same time last year. The growth is expected to be led by strong performances among hotels and restaurants.

“Never before in the history of Jamaica has tourism made such a great contribution to the national economy and we are willing to contribute to that process and to make even greater contributions. Jamaicans at all levels of society can enjoy a bigger slice of the tourism pie,” Bartlett told the Parliament.

There has also been a great deal of investment in the island’s tourism industry in recent years. Over the last five years, tourism investment made up 20 pc of the island’s total foreign direct investments. Looking forward, over the next five to 10 years, there are several upcoming investment projects on the horizon that Bartlett said will add 15,000 to 20,000 new rooms in Jamaica. The total value of these investment projects is between USD 4-5 billion. “Tourism will be the biggest driver of economic growth and prosperity in Jamaica for years to come,” Bartlett said.