Tourism traffic into Jamaica slowed in March compared with the earlier months of 2024, data for tourist arrivals and departures for Sangster and Norman Manley International airports show.
The data while not the exact outcome of stopover tourist arrivals to the country, provides a good indication of tourist traffic flows into the country.
Traffic through the Montego Bay Airport for March 2024, was up 6.4 percent, with 522,900 passengers passing through up from 491,300 handled in March 2023 data from Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico operators of both airports show.
For the first quarter of 2024, Sangster International Montego Bay Airport processed 1,457,300 passengers, a solid 7.9 percent more than the 1,351,000 passengers in the first quarter of 2023.
But Norman Manley Airport suffered a 4.6 percent decline in passenger traffic in March 2024, to 129,700 passengers from 136,000 passengers in March 2023.
For the first three months of 2024, Kingston Airport saw total passengers handled, decrease by 0.6 percent, to 392,000 in 2024 falling from 394,300 in the 2023 first quarter.
The data was taken from Tourism Analytics.com.
Tourism traffic slows in March
Jamaica’s visitor arrivals climb
Stopover visitor arrivals into Montego Bay through Sangster International Airport, rose nearly 10 percent in January this year versus last year while activity for the Norman Manley Airport just increased by 1.6 percent over 2023.
Tourists enjoying the Jamaican offerings and helping the sector to a near 9 percent jump in visitors in January 2024.
According to the data released by the operators of Jamaica’s two main international airports, Grupo Aeroportuario Del Pacifico, the Montego Bay based Sangster International Airport handled 9.6 percent more passengers in January this year than it did in 2023. The number of arriving and departing passengers climbed to 491,000 from 449,000 in January 2023, while the Kingston Norman Manley Airport had 1.6 percent more passengers using the airport in January this year, some 148,300, up from 146,000 in January 2023.
The increase is a positive development for Jamaica which relies heavily on the tourist industry for economic development and foreign exchange.
Jamaica’s tourism rebound slows
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.
Tourist arrivals climb for Jamaica
Tourist arrivals into Jamaica continue to grow, according to data released by Grupo Aeroportuario operators of international airports in Montego Bay and Kingston, with arrivals in May probably rising 13 percent above those for 2022, with 544,000 passengers processed, up from 481,400 and for the year to date an increase of 32 percent to 2.89 million from 2.196 million in 2022.
This is the clearest sign of a boom time in Jamaica’s tourism industry.
Montego Bay, the gateway with the highest number of visitors, had a bounce of 10.2 percent to 403,000 incoming and outgoing passengers, up from 366,000 and for the year to date, an increase of 30.2 percent to 2.208 million from 1.696 million in 2022 to May,
Passengers passing through the Norman Manley airport in Kingston jumped 21.9 percent to 141,100 from 115,800 and year to date, an increase of 36.2 percent to 681,700 from 500,400.
Tourist arrivals jumped 32% in March for Jamaica
Tourist arrivals to Jamaica probably rose 32 percent in March this year over 2022 and are set to deliver a 4 percent increase to 283,000 visitors over 271,742 stopover arrivals in March 2019, data released for Montego Bay’s Sangster’s International Airport suggest.
The data also indicates that arrivals for the 2023 first quarter could result in stopover arrivals to the country rising a solid 45 percent to 742 thousand versus 510 thousand for the same period in 2022 and 5 percent above 2019.
The above is deduced from 491,300 total incoming and outgoing passengers in March 2023 compared with 385,800 in March 2022, Sangster’s International Airport, according to Aeroportuario del Pacifico, airport manages the international airports in Kingston and Montego Bay.
The total number of passengers at Montego Bay Airport increased by 27.3 percent in March this year, from 385,800 in March 2022 to 491,300. By comparison, 491,800 passengers passed through the airport in March 2019.
In the first three months of 2022, the Montego Bay Airport handled 45.6 percent more passengers than the 928,100 in the first three months of 2022 to 1,351,000 in 2023.
Kingston had a greater pick up in passenger movements than Montego Bay, with Norman Manley Airport handling 136,000 passengers in March this year, 38.1 percent more than the 98,500 handled in March 2022.
In the first three months of 2023, Kingston’s Airport saw total passenger movements grow by 46.9 percent, from 268,400 in 2022 to 394,200.
