Minister Happy With Return Of Cruise Ships

• Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, has said cruise shipping remains an important value-added complement to stopover arrivals and will also be a crucial component to Jamaica’s tourism recovery efforts. 
• Two cruise ships are expected to call in Ocho Rios this week, bringing the number of vessels to have called on the resort town since the phased reopening of the sector in August to 5. Mr. Bartlett noted that this development underscores the growing demand for destination Jamaica and the success of efforts to reopen the tourism sector. 
• Since the return of stopover visitor arrivals since June 2020, Jamaica has been seeing steady growth towards pre-COVID-19 levels, and now that the cruise shipping industry is back on stream, significant growth in the numbers is expected. 
• Assistant Director for Marketing and Communications at the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) Kimberly Stiff, said the PAJ has been working overtime with other government agencies to keep things in order, in order to attract a lot more ships. 
• However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has assigned Level 4 travel advisory status to Jamaica, which cautions US travelers to avoid travelling to Jamaica unless fully vaccinated. This could deter cruise ships from docking in Jamaica and underscores the importance of controlling the spread of the coronavirus variants and reducing the infection rate.  

(Source: JIS News)