Jamaica’s tourist arrivals drop in February

March 8, 2025 by
Passenger traffic passing through Kingston Norman Manley International Airport continues to record increases over last year, rising 7.1 percent in February, with 121,900 international travellers passing through the airport, from 113,800 in 2024.

Passenger traffic passing through Kingston’s Norman Manley Airport for January and February rose 10.2 percent to 288,900 from 262,100 in 2024 for similar months last year, data released by Grupo Aeroportuario Del Pacifico operators of Jamaica’s two major airports show. Montego Bay’s Sangster International Airport continues to bleed, with a drop of 9.6 percent from 442,600 passengers in 2024 to 400,300 with the year to date declining 8.4 percent to 856,500 from 934,500 in 2024. February marks the 9th month of decline since April last year, with data from the Jamaica Tourist Board showing less than a percent rise in May and October.

Filed Under: Economy, General News Tagged With: , , , ,

Jamaica’s tourism rebound slows

November 6, 2023 by

Tourist arrivals to Jamaica continue to grow, but at a much reduced pace than earlier in the year, data for the all important Sangster International Airport shows. Passenger traffic passing through the airport in October grew 10.3 percent, to 350,000, up from 317,000 last year, and is well below the year to date of an increase of nearly 22 percent to 4.3 million passengers versus 3.54 million in the previous year.

Airplanes lined up at Sangster’s International Airport in early 2023.

In the case of Kingston’s, Norman Manley International Airport saw 8.9 percent fewer passengers passing to the island’s second largest airport for a second month, declining to 129,000 passengers passing through compared with 141,200 in 2022, but for the year to date, the airport saw 15.6 percent more passengers passing through than the year before when 1.2 million passed through compared to 1.47 million this year to date.
Data was taken from a  release passenger traffic for the two International Airports operated by Grupo Aeroportuario Del Pacifico.
According to Jamaica Tourist Board data, stopover arrivals to Jamaica for the first six months of this year, the latest period they have so far reported on, were up 26.8 percent over that of 2022 and 6.7 percent above 2019 figures, while for the quarterly to June, arrivals were up 13.6 percent over 2022 and just 9.9 percent over that of 2019.

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: , , , ,

Tourist arrivals continue to rise for Jamaica

July 8, 2023 by

Tourist arrivals continue to rise for Jamaica, with preliminary data showing an increase in June and the year to date compared with last year and 2019, the last year with uninterrupted movement of visitors prior to the current year, data put out by Grupo Aeroportuario Del Pacifico, operators of both of the country’s major international airports in Jamaica, show.
touristMontego Bay’s Sangster International Airport handled 448,500 passengers, an increase of 14.1 percent over the 393,100 passengers processed in June 2022 and for the six months to June, 2,656,800 travellers, 27.2 percent more than 2.09 million in 2022. Kingston’s Norman Manley International Airport processed 147,7000 passengers, an increase of 13.5 percent over the 130,200 passengers in June 2022 and for the six months to June, 829,500 travellers, 31.5 percent more than 630,600 in 2022.
Compared to 2019, the last year with uninterrupted business, Sangster Airport handled 4 percent more than 2019 and Normal Manley 3 percent less than in 2019, for an average increase of 2.2 percent.
The latest data out of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) shows that stopover arrivals are up just 3.6 percent over 2019 for the first three months of 2023 and up 43.8 percent over 2022 to 733,982 arrivals. The JTB report for 2022 shows stopover arrivals up 78 percent in the June quarter compared with 2021 but down 3.3 percent compared with 2019, representing a significant improvement over the 28 percent decline in the first quarter compared with that of 2019.
Cruise travel was flat in March, according to JTB data, compared with 2019, but up 261 percent over March 2022. Cruise arrivals for the three months period are up 382 percent over 2022 to 477,502 visitors but down 24 percent compared with 2019.

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: , , , ,

Tourism arrivals 95% of 2019 for Jamaica

June 26, 2022 by

The Jamaica Tourist Board’s last release of tourism arrivals to the country is for March this year, nearly three months away, unacceptable for one of the country’s leading industries.

Tourism arrivals in April & May down just 5% on 2019

Data for March from the Jamaica Tourist Board shows the county welcomed 215,789 stopover visitors, some 29 percent less than March 2019. The Tourist Board is yet to release April numbers, but data out of Sangster International Airport suggests that arrivals in April exceeded those for March, to be the best month for the year to date. Indications are that tourist arrivals could be off by just 5 percent from 2019, the year before the closure of the sector back in 2020. Similarly, data indicate arrivals through the Montego Bay airport in May are 9 percent less than in April, some 5 percent lower than in May 2019.
The April and May figures mark a major about turn for the sector. January saw 131,730 stopover arrivals, down 45 percent from the 216,509 they came in 2019 the JTB data shows, with 162,882 arrivals for February, down 36 percent from the 220,046 in 2019.

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: , ,

Continued improvement in tourist arrivals

December 9, 2021 by

Stopover visitor arrivals to Jamaica jumped 39.5 percent to 970,435 for the first nine months of 2021, from 695,721 in the first nine months last year and is 52 percent below the 2,020,508 stopovers arrivals in the first nine months of 2019.

Tourism is Jamaica’s bouncing back.

September quarter arrivals grew to 437,890 from 114,402 last year but are 30.5 down on the 629,825 in 2019, a significant improvement over the 45.6 percent drop in the June quarter over 2019.
Preliminary data show that the improvement in arrivals continued into October and November, with the latter figures suggesting that the decline against 2019 is now down to just 22 percent.
For Jamaica, stopover arrivals in September this year fell 30.4 percent to 100,654 from 144,583 in September 2019 but are 251 percent ahead of the 28,648 arrivals in September last year, shortly after the industry reopened to international visitors. Data from the Jamaica Tourist Board show that the September numbers are 34.4 percent lower than the 153,360 stopovers in August.
Unfortunately, the Jamaica Tourist Board continues the bad practice of not releasing arrivals numbers to the public on a timely basis. Accordingly, neither October nor November numbers are yet released. The tourist board should move to a two-pronged approach to releasing the data. First, they should provide the country with the arrival numbers and later release the report as they currently do.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Economy Tagged With: ,

Tourist arrivals eyeing 80% of 2019 numbers

September 14, 2021 by

Two and a half months after the end of June the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) is just reporting stopover arrivals for that month, that came in at 166,046 visitors, this compares with 160,000 this publication suggested in its July report.
By now the public ought to know how many visitors came into the country for July and possibly August. The long delay in reporting the data is unacceptable. The JTB needs to switch the manner of reporting by releasing the arrival numbers shortly after each month finishes and then release the full analysis at a later time.
At the same time, ICInsider.com had indicated that the numbers for July were set to end up around 170,000, but based on the outturn for June it is now likely to be 180,000 stopover arrivals or 67 percent of July 2019 arrivals, that saw 270,462 stopover arrivals. Arrivals for last year were just 41,941 in July and 43,813 in August shortly after the country reopened its borders. The latest available data suggest that August arrivals will be around 170,000 or 79 percent of the 214,780 stopover arrivals in 2019.
Tourism is one of Jamaica’s major earners and employers of labour.  A lot rides on the fortunes of this sector and Jamaicans need timely and up to date information for planning and decision making. It cannot be that the JTB sits on valuable information while the rest of the society has to wait at their pleasure to release the data.

Filed Under: Economy, General News Tagged With: , , ,

Jamaica’s tourist arrivals set for 170K in July

August 10, 2021 by

Tourism is Jamaica.

Tourist arrivals for July climbed just over 8 percent above arrivals in June this year, data out of the Sangster International Airport show, with 154,620 passengers arriving up from 142,727 in June.
Arrivals numbers are up nearly 400 percent above the 31,000 that came in July 2020, the second month of the country re-opening its borders to overseas’ visitors. Jamaica Tourist Board data show stopover arrivals in May 2021 at 122,522 compared to the airport arrivals through Montego Bay of 108,320. That means that Kingston accounted for around 24,000 visitor arrivals. Based on the above numbers, July should end up at 170,000 stopover arrivals and June is likely to end up around 160,000, as the country continues to record increasing numbers of guests following the dislocation last year.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Economy Tagged With: ,

June stopover visitor arrivals set for 160,000

July 22, 2021 by

Stopover arrivals in May 2021 were 122,522 Jamaica Tourist Board recently released data shows, just over 2,500 above ICInsider.com original May forecast. Data of passenger arrivals through the Sangster’s International Airport suggests that stopover arrivals for June should reach 160,000 or 67 percent of the arrivals of 239,000 June in 2019. 
If the trend continues, July is likely to see just over 200,000 stopover arrivals, which would amount to 77 percent of July 2019 stopover arrivals of 270,462.
In the meantime, arrivals for August this year could exceed the 215,000 arrivals in August 2019.
June arrivals through Sangster’s International Airport were 142,727, which amounts to 61 percent of the June 2019 numbers of 239,000.
For the January to May period, arrivals decreased by 36 percent to 366,499 stopovers, 207,632 less than the 574,131 that came in the first three months of 2020, with the industry closed until late June.
The total stopover arrivals, recently released by the Jamaica Tourist Board for May are down 42 percent from 2019, but a huge improvement over the decline of 65 percent that April suffered against the same period in 2019, additionally, May numbers are 48 percent above April this year, showing the strength of the recovery.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Economy, General News Tagged With: , ,

Jamaica Tourism arrivals jump 39%

July 6, 2021 by

Stopover visitor arrivals to Jamaica appear set to increase by 40 percent over May numbers, data compiled from reports of passenger arrivals disclosed by the Sangster International Airport suggest. According to the data, 39 percent more passenger arrivals came into the country in June compared to May this year.
May saw a 44 percent spike in passenger arrivals through the airport for the second city of the country over April, an indication that visitor arrivals should hit 105,000 in May, up from 82,702 in April. June arrivals through the airport, topped 142,000 for the first time since the industry opened up for foreign visitors in June last year. June this year ended with 142,727 arrivals for the month, amounting to 61 percent of the June 2019 numbers of 239,000.
Aircrafts arriving in the country, rose by 5.8 percent in June to 2,490 compared to a 15 percent increase in May with 2,353 units over April, with the trend showing increased passenger load.
July is set to see the total visitors breaking the 200,000 mark for an increase of 40 percent putting it to 76 percent of the July 2019 influx of 270,462.
August could see the industry coming back to the 2019 levels and may well exceed it and possibly suggest full recovery for the industry.
The latest Jamaica Tourist data published is only for April and was published for the public’s use on June 17, more than a month and a half after the month closed. The data for February was even worse coming out on April 27, nearly two months after the close of the month reported on.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Economy, Feature Stories Tagged With: , , , ,

Recovery for tourism continues

May 27, 2021 by

Jamaica’s tourist stopover arrivals in March 2021 fell 33.8 percent, with 37,545 fewer arrivals than 2020, resulting in 73,646 stopover arrivals in March from the 111,191 arrivals in March 2020, but the 2020 numbers were well down on March 2019 with 271,742 stopover arrivals.
Arrivals for January to March decreased 72 percent, with 161,275 stopovers, 412,856 less than 574,131 in 2020.
The actual numbers out of the Jamaica Tourist Board for March this year, are in line with ICInsider.com’s projections that the month would end up around 75,000.
Data on airport traffic for Jamaica shows Sangster International Airport, the entry point that best mirrors the trend in visitor arrivals to the country handling 22 percent more passenger movements in April, over March this year suggesting that visitor arrivals for April, year should be closer to 95,000 and that would be well up on the 43,798 stopover tourist arrivals to Jamaica in February that data from the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) show, as well as substantially up on March this year, as well.
JBT reports stopover arrivals from the United States market declined just 8.3 percent in March 2021, with 71,789 arrivals compared to 78,318 in March 2020.
For the January to March period, the US market declined by 59.7 percent with 152,102 arrivals.
While the overall visitor numbers are down, the length of stay rose. The average length of foreign national arrivals in March 2021 was 8.3 nights, up 15 percent from 7.2 nights in March 2020. The average length of stay in hotels was 6 nights in March 2021, compared to 5.9 nights in March 2020.
The average length of stay of Non‐ Resident Jamaican arrivals jumped a very significant 29 percent in March 2021 to 20.8 nights from 16.1 in March 2020.  A 10 percent rise in the average length of stay in hotels in March 2021 resulted in 7.7 nights, up from 7 nights in March 2020. The average length of stay for Foreign National in all types of accommodations rose nearly 30 percent for the March 2021 quarter to 10.1 nights compared to 7.8 nights in 2020. For the Non‐Resident Jamaican arrivals, the average length of stay was rose 54 percent to 24.2 nights from 15.6 nights in 2020.

Filed Under: Economy, Feature Stories Tagged With: , , ,