Tourism: Record Visitor Arrivals for 2006

Jamaica’s tourist industry continued its growth momentum last year, with stopover arrivals for the period January to April, increasing to 599,834, compared to 518,547 for the four-month period in 2005.

            The figures peaked in April, with stopover arrivals reaching 163,272, an increase of 32.1 per cent over the 123,578 visitors recorded for April 2005.

            The growth momentum continued in May, with first 21 days of the months showing a significant increase of 25 per cent compared to 2005.

            “As far as the stopovers are          concerned, all major markets were showing increases,” said Director of Tourism, Paul Pennicook, outlining that the United States, which was the largest market had shown “a very healthy increase” for the entire winter period.

            Cruise passenger arrivals also increased during the winter season, with 515,376 visitors coming to the island, which was 8.8 per cent more than the 473,627 visitors recorded for the corresponding period in 2005.

            Mr. Pennicook affirmed that the impressive numbers for the first four months of 2006 was “a direct reflection of the increased inventory on the island,” with 1, 200 rooms added.

            He noted also, that the increase in air capacity or airlift into the island had also impacted on the impressive performance, as “a number of new carriers have come in or carriers that have been flying here for a while, have increased their flights.”

            Mr. Pennicook made mention of United Airlines, which has introduced five flights per week out of Washington DC, and increased services out of Chicago. Delta Airlines, he continued, had begun services from Cincinnati, Ohio, while Spirit Airlines has two flights out of Fort Lauderdale to Kingston and Montego Bay. Mr. Pennicook also pointed to additional chartered flights from Canada and the United Kingdom.

            The cruise passenger market segment continued to show robust growth as well, reflecting a 15 per cent increase during January to September 2006, with a total of 950,329 cruise passenger arrivals.

            Jamaica continued to experience strong visitor arrivals in the ensuing months, with most months showing double digit increases, when compared to 2005. For July 2006 in particular, there were more than 180,000 stop over arrivals, the highest volume ever in any single month.

            For the first nine months of 2006, stopover arrivals grew by 17.2 per cent to reach 1.3 million, exceeding targeted expectations by 6.4 per cent.

Increased Arrivals from North America and Europe

            In June, the United States (US) accounted for the vast majority of visitors to the island, with 124,709 stopover arrivals, which represented an increase of 19.8 per cent. The heaviest activity came from the northeast market.

            The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) attributed the strong growth to an increase in airlift to the island as well as the considerable increase in Jamaica’s room inventory.

            Airlift from the US (which accounts for 70 per cent of the island’s tourist arrivals), on carriers such as Air Jamaica, Spirit Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Continental Airlines, United Airlines, Northwest Airlines, US Airways and American Airlines, has risen dramatically.

            More than 119,000 Canadians visited Jamaica between January and October 2006, compared with just 85,000 during the same time period in 2005.