Non-resident Jamaicans outstay foreigners

Avia Collinder, Business Reporter

Non-resident Jamaicans have reduced their length of stay on excursions to the island but only marginally, new tourism figures show.

But they continue to stay twice as long as foreign nationals.

According to the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), year to date September, the average length of stay of non-resident Jamaicans was 16.1 nights compared to 16.9 nights last year.

For foreign nationals, the length of stay was 8.5 nights compared to 8.6 nights in 2012.

However, it's unclear whether visitors with Jamaican ties spend more on average than foreign visitors.

Antoinette Lyn, research and marketing intelligence officer with the JTB, said Wednesday that an in-depth study needs to be done on expenditure by the long-staying visitors, as their spending patterns are different from foreign nationals who tend to stay in hotels.

"They tend to stay with friends and relatives who are their main accommodation. However, they also remit money home, which is a lot, and they may also give money to relatives while they are here," she said.

Non-resident Jamaicans are spending more time here, but are smaller in volume, and slightly more cagey about their reasons for visiting.

Compared to 1.4 per cent of foreign nationals who did not state their purpose of travel this year, 11.7 per cent of non-residents failed to provide a reason for travel, the JTB noted.

travel data

Between January and September, some 107,041 non-residents visited, of which 77,964 disclosed their reasons for coming as follows: 72.8 per cent who came did so for leisure; 5.6 per cent cited business travel; and 9.9 per cent claimed "other purposes".

Among the foreign visitors in the same period: 89.9 per cent or more than 1.28 million of the 1.43 million who visited Jamaica did so for leisure; 4.7 per cent were on business; and four per cent cited other purposes.

Lyn, in an answer to questions about marketing targeted at non- resident Jamaicans, said that they were specifically targeted in campaigns during Jamaica's 50th anniversary celebrations in 2012.

That infrastructure remains in place "so that when things are happening which are of interest" the board can reach out to the diaspora, she said.

Overall, nine-month arrivals across all groups declined by 0.6 per cent to 1.535 million, down from 1.544 in the corresponding period for 2012.

The main source markets were: United States 64.4 per cent; Canada 19.2 per cent and the United Kingdom 7.4 per cent. The Caribbean accounts for 2.8 per cent.

avia.collinder@gleanerjm.com