Tourist arrivals increase despite US travel advisory, other challenges

Senior Advisor and Strategist in the Ministry of Tourism, Delano Seiveright, has disclosed that official tourist arrival numbers as at the first week of May are ahead of the corresponding period in 2023.

Jamaica has recorded 1.7 million tourist arrivals up to the first week of May with just over one million stopover arrivals and over 700,000 cruise passengers. This represents a 4.6 per cent increase for stopover arrivals and 23 per cent increase for cruise passengers.

The release of the figures follows a declaration by tourism minister Edmund Bartlett earlier this month that Jamaica's visitor arrivals have not been negatively affected by travel advisories.

However, in a statement to the media Thursday afternoon, Seiveright noted that "there is no doubt that it (the advisory) has an impact."

Seiveright noted that the Government continues to treat the Level 3 US Travel advisory very seriously leading to multiple engagements with high-ranking US officials across the State Department, Congress, among others.

He also pointed out that several other countries impacted by similar negative travel advisories have raised also concerns.

Seiveright said "despite the decelerating effect of headwinds created by growing global economic uncertainties, relatively high inflation and interest rates in primary markets, continued difficulties in airlines securing equipment and adequate staffing, aggressive lower priced competition and the negative effects of recent travel advisories, the Ministry of Tourism and its agencies continue to effect multipronged initiatives and actions to bolster growth."

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