Jamaica has topped the 2 million visitor mark in 2023, factoring in the combined total of stay over and cruise passenger visits, according to newly-shared data from the Jamaica Ministry of Tourism.
That includes surging stay over numbers that are expected to continue to grow for the remainder of the summer.
New numbers from analytics firm ForwardKeys project a 33 percent increase this summer in forward bookings to Jamaica, compared to the same period in 2019.
“The fact that Jamaica continues to outpace visitor arrivals and earnings projections is a testament to the resilience and unwavering appeal of the island’s tourism product as well as the excellent relationships we enjoy with our travel industry partners,” said Jamaica Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett. “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.”
It’s part of a boom for the island that seems to be transcending what has been a tightening summer tourism market in the Caribbean.
“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 U.S.,” said Donovan White, Director of Tourism, Jamaica Tourist Board. “With 2023 already posting robust numbers, we are very optimistic about the outlook for growth this year and beyond.”