Jamaica is raising a glass to a record-breaking year in 2023, during which it welcomed approximately 4.1 million visitor arrivals.

This marks a 16% increase over 2022 arrivals and a 7.5% increase over 2019’s pre-pandemic numbers. Of this total, more than half of the island’s visitors, approximately three million, were from the United States. 

“Jamaica continues to break records in terms of tourism arrivals in a spectacular pattern of growth,” said Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett. “It is deeply gratifying to remain a top destination of choice among travellers internationally as well as from our primary source market, the U.S., and maintain our position as one of the world’s leading tourism destinations. Based on arrival figures to date, we fully expect to post an 11th consecutive quarter of significant expansion.”

Donovan White, Director of Tourism, Jamaica Tourist Board, also noted that the island recorded a 42% repeat visitor rate to complement its visitors arrivals growth.

“We are confident that 2024 will be yet another record-breaking year,” said White. “In addition, we continue to add new airlift from key gateways and will have a number of new hotels opening throughout the year to support our tourism growth trajectory.”

This year, Jamaica expects to add 2,000 new rooms to its hotel portfolio. These include the first 1,000 rooms of the 2,000-room Princess Grand Jamaica, the 753-room Riu Palace Aquarelle, and the 450-room Unico Hotel in Montego Bay. 

The island is also gearing up for a jam-packed calendar of events, which includes Rebel Salute in January, Blue Mountain Coffee Festival in March, Carnival in April, Reggae Sumfest in July, and the Jamaica Food and Drink Festival in November. 

Source: Travelweek