Jamaica's Ministry of Tourism reports the country earned US$4.3 billion from the industry in 2024 as a result of over 4.3 million visitors.
Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett said the sector finished the year strong, despite the slight shortfall in arrival figures due to travel disruptions, natural disasters and geopolitical issues.
In 2024, there were 68,000 fewer seats available for arrival in the country which saw a natural reduction in the projected figures for the year.
Yet, Jamaica finished the year with a slight increase in arrivals with national earnings meeting projections.
2025 is expected to be a strong year for tourism with the country on track to realise its growth strategy of five million visitors and earnings of US$5 billion.
A 12.9% increase in visitors is expected compared to the previous year's winter period - the strongest for earnings in tourism in the country.
Bartlett noted that 1.6 million airline seats have already been secured for the current winter season, which, he said, “is the largest amount ever”.
This comes as the Ministry announced its plans to position the hospitality sector to attract more luxury developments similar to the US$450-million Montego Bay Pinnacle luxury lifestyle development currently under construction.
The Ministry hopes that attracting this demographic in the tourism space will create more demand for goods and services from various sub-sectors, boosting consumption in both quantity and quality resulting in higher returns and creating greater employment opportunities.
“We are now looking at how to enable more of this type of investment,” said Bartlett.
“This for us, is a pivotal point, and whilst we are going to be continuing to build out the elements of tourism that drive the demand for more production in various areas of the economy, we’re going to be placing concerted focus on luxury tourism as a critical part of the differentiation of the Jamaican experience.”
Related content