Bartlett, the tourism minister, was reacting to concerns raised by the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) spokesman on tourism Dr Wykeham McNeill in terms of “a declining rate of growth in stopover arrivals”.Published on : Friday, April 6, 2018
Bartlett, the tourism minister, was reacting to concerns raised by the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) spokesman on tourism Dr Wykeham McNeill in terms of “a declining rate of growth in stopover arrivals”.
McNeill asserted that in December, the growth rate in stopover arrivals started to drop, and “has dipped significantly” since a state of public emergency was executed in St James in January.
McNeill stated that he was calling on the minister “to give a fulsome update to the country on what is the real state of affairs in the industry”.
Nonetheless, Bartlett explained that in spite of a record-breaking last year, for the first quarter of the year, Jamaica’s tourism numbers hit new records and heights.
“Total stopover and cruise passenger arrivals stood at approximately 1.3 million for the first quarter of 2018 (January to March), that is over 80,000 more tourists than the corresponding period last year or 6.6 per cent,” Bartlett said.
“Provisional data show that the month of March also recorded a whopping 11.3 per cent increase in stopover arrivals over the same month last year. Of note also is that for the period, gross estimated foreign exchange earnings stood at US$821.2 million, representing an increase of eight per cent.”
Tags: Edmund Bartlett