KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica says it has welcomed 55,000 visitors to the island during the period July 4-10, marking a recovery in the tourism industry following the passage of Hurricane Beryl last week.
Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett admiring a canvass painting by artist Delroy Milllwood at the opening of the Christmas in July trade show.In March, Jamaican tourism officials had announced that the island welcomed one million visitors and generated tourism earnings of one billion US dollars between January and February this year.
They said the arrivals for the period included more than 600,000 stopover visitors and more than 300,000 cruise passengers.
“The figures were a seven per cent increase, in the case of stopover and a 29 per cent increase for cruise, with the earnings of one billion dollars an increase of 8.8 per cent over last year.
Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett, speaking at the opening ceremony of the Christmas in July trade show, said that for July 2 and 3 there were no arrivals to the island, as the category four hurricane made its way through the region, leaving a trail of death and devastation in Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Jamaica.
But he said that the island started receiving visitors from July 4 and that the number increased over a six-day period.
“That is what resilience is about where you can say… 80 per cent of our resources is intact, so you can come, and they came because they have confidence in the promise that we make, because of the integrity of that promise,” Bartlett told the trade show that is now in its 10th year with 205 artisans are participating.
He said that the sustainability plan for the industry is predicated on several key strategies of training and development, upskilling, and broadening the scope of the production of authentic Jamaican goods and services, expanded credit and debt arrangements, and marketing and networking of entrepreneurs operating within the sector.
Bartlett added that Jamaica’s long history of attracting record numbers of visitors to the island goes beyond its natural resources and noted that the artisanal community is a valuable part of the island’s tourism product.
He said that small and medium-sized enterprises in the tourism ecosystem are critical drivers of the future of the industry, and commended event organisers, the Tourism Linkages Network, for the initiative.
“I want to thank all of you for the work that you have done with us in 10 years to make Christmas in July the exciting and expanded opportunity that is now here for our small and medium enterprises,” he said.
Christmas in July is a collaborative effort of the Tourism Linkages Network, a division of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), and its partners, the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC), the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) and the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association (JMEA).
