Above: Jamaica (CJ Photo)
By the Caribbean Journal staff
Jamaica received just over 2.08 million stayover tourist arrivals in 2014, according to newly-released data from the Ministry of Tourism.
That represented a 3.6 percent increase over 2013, when the country topped 2 million visitors for the first time.
The growth was buoyed by a 10.7 percent increase in tourism out of Europe and a 5.2 percent increase from Canada, along with a 2 percent increase from the United States.
Jamaica also welcomed 1.42 million cruise visitors, a 12.5 percent increase over 2014.
“So, in total, Jamaica welcomed some 3.5 million visitors to the island in 2014,” Tourism Minister Dr Wykeham McNeill said.
That led to about $2.2 billion in tourism sector earnings last year, he said.