Record US$4.38 Billion Earnings from Tourism

• Preliminary gross earnings from tourism are estimated at a record US$4.38Bn for the fiscal year 2023/24 as the sector continues its exponential growth. Stopover arrivals are projected at US$2.96Mn, reflecting a 9.4% increase over the previous period, with cruise arrivals expected to reach US$1.34Mn, up by 9% from the previous period in 2022/23.
• Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, in announcing the figures as he opened the 2024/25 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (April 30), said that the US$4.38Bn in earnings “is the largest revenue flow from tourism in the history of the tourism industry”.
• “Several of our communities that were reeling from COVID, as a result of this performance, are now bustling centres of commerce and activity again and are providing more jobs,” he noted.
• Mr. Bartlett informed that for the first three months of 2024, Jamaica has already cleared 1.34 million visitors with earnings of US$1.27Bn. The figure includes 788,000 stopovers, which is a 7.4% increase over the first three months of 2023. “Cruise has come back [with] 554,560 [cruise passengers] representing a 16.1% increase over the corresponding three months last year,” he noted.
• Furthermore, Tourism Enhancement Fund collected US$59.2Mn or $9.2Bn in fees last year. These funds are generated through the US$20 fee for incoming airline passengers and the US$2 fee for cruise passengers, directly contributing to the Consolidated Fund.
• The country also earned total direct revenue flows into the consolidated fund of US$345.8Mn or $53.6Bn. “So, that $53.6Bn is directly into the government revenues, but it does not include the many billions that flow from general consumption tax (GCT), because tourism is the most consumption-driven activity on planet Earth. People travel to consume and consume, and at every point of consumption, they pay a tax,” Mr. Bartlett pointed out.

(Source: JIS)