Jamaica Is Expecting Its Biggest Winter Travel Season Ever

By: - December 20th, 2023
s hotel jamaica

It’s been a record-breaking year for travel in Jamaica, and now the island is projecting an even stronger winter season. 

The 2023-2024 season, which effectively kicks off this week, is projected to bring in more than one million stopover visitors, according to Jamaica Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett. 

“It is going to be the biggest winter tourist season in the history of Jamaica,” Bartlett said this week. 

jamaica tourism summer
Chris Blackwell’s celebrated Goldeneye resort in Jamaica.

Jamaica has already secured 1.5 million seats globally. Even with a 75 percent load factor, that would mean more than one million arrivals this winter, Bartlett said. 

The island’s biggest air hub, Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, is projecting more than 5 million passengers passing through this year for the first time. 

The strong projected winter comes after a fall season that also saw record seats for the island, particularly out of the all-important United States market. 

a beach in montego bay, jamaica
A beach at the Half Moon resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

While the US market continue to send waves of visitors to the island, it’s not just America that is driving the island’s growth, however. The United Kingdom market, an area that Jamaica has made no secret of its plans to grow, is also sending more traffic to the country. That includes recently-launched flights on European carrier Norse Atlantic Airways between London and Montego Bay. 

Tourism from Canada is also surging, with new flights on carriers like Flair and new hotels from Canadian hotel company Blue Diamond, which just opened its new Hideaway at Royalton Blue Waters resort in greater Montego Bay this month. 

Jamaica Negril Hotel Beach
The Skylark hotel in Negril.

Are you planning a trip to Jamaica? The island has one of the most diverse hotel products in the wider Caribbean, from luxury resorts like the dazzling Eclipse at Half Moon resort in Montego Bay to the lovely boutique Geejam in up-and coming Port Antonio. 

If you’re searching for an all-inclusive vacation, there’s also the unique offering at the stylish S Hotel in Montego Bay, the coolest new all-inclusive on the island — a very different experience from larger, more traditional all-inclusive options.

About the author

Alexander Britell is the founder and editor-in-chief of Caribbean Journal and one of the top experts on Caribbean travel worldwide, with decades of on-the-ground travel to the region and comprehensive knowledge of the entire Caribbean Basin.
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