Tourist Industry Earned US$500Mn More Than Last Year

• Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmond Bartlett, says preliminary report from the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) is showing that in 2019, the sector earned between US$3.7Bn and US$3.8Bn, some US$500Mn more than in 2018.
• Speaking at a press conference on January 15 at the JTB offices in New Kingston, Mr. Bartlett said stopover arrivals for the year grew by 8%.
• “The measure of tourism is both arrivals and earnings, but the most powerful part of it is the earnings, which have increased by US$1.8Bn in just over three years,” the Minister said.
• “The best part of our success is in the retention increase that we have had in the dollar,” Mr. Bartlett said, explaining that in 2016, Jamaica was retaining 30 cents in every dollar earned in the industry, but it is now at 40.8 cents, a 30% increase.
• He said the Government moved quickly to ensure an end to the seasonality of tourism, and to make it an all-year activity that provides employment security to workers.

(Source: JIS)