Bartlett projects US$4.5 billion in tourism revenue this year
Published:Tuesday | May 16, 2023 | 1:10 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
TOURISM MINISTER Edmund Bartlett is projecting that Jamaica could earn US$4.5 billion (J$696 trillion) in tourism revenue for 2023, a significant increase over the US$3.64 billion earned in 2019, the year before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bartlett also revealed that he is expecting more than four million visitors to the island this year.
“I am proud to tell you tonight that as of yesterday (Saturday, May 14], Jamaica welcomed over 1.5 million visitors in the first four months and two weeks of the year 2023 and earned US$1.6 billion. It puts us fully on track to create new records, better than 2019,” said Bartlett, during his presentation at Sunday’s opening session of the Caribbean Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (CARAIFA) 34th annual sales congress’ Hall of Fame dinner and induction ceremony.
“For the summer, we have a record 1.2 million seats coming to Jamaica. If we have a 75 per cent load factor, it means that we will be bringing in close to another million seats, and when you put that million on top of what we have now, by the end of August, we would have been 2.5 million seats on track to ensure that we have 4.2 million visitors for the year, and earning US$4.5 billion, which will be a record for Jamaica in all its tourism history,” added Bartlett.
Jamaica’s tourism revenue for 2019, when the country welcomed 4.3 million visitors, is slightly higher than last year’s tourism income of US$3.58 billion when the country had 2.9 million visitors.
The record-breaking tourism expectation for this year is because hotels, which saw a slump in business when COVID-19 impacted global tourism, are now back to the pre-COVID state of readiness and fully functional.
“Once tourism is back, almost every other entity is back, and I am proud to say that Jamaica leads the way in terms of that recovery. I make those points because resilience is what enabled us to be where we are, and I am sure that your numbers are beginning to come forth, too,” Bartlett told delegates.
During a Caribbean Tourism Organisation press conference in Barbados on March 7, it was projected that the region’s tourist arrival numbers for 2023 would likely be recorded at up to 32.6 million visitors, surpassing the 32 million land-based visitors who visited the region in 2019.