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.
Tourist arrivals eyeing 80% of 2019 numbers
Recovery for tourism continues
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.
Sharp drop in January visitor arrivals
Stopover visitor arrivals to Jamaica fell 80.7 percent in January 2021 to just 43,831, a decrease of 183,369 compared to 227,200 recorded in the same month in 2020. The January numbers are well below arrivals in December last year with 90,164 stopovers that fell 68 percent with 190,951 fewer arrivals than the 281,115 recorded in December 2019.
Stopover arrivals from the United States fell 73 percent in January 2021, with 38,500 arrivals than the 143,460 arrivals in January 2020, with all US marketing regions recording decreases. Arrivals from the Canadian market dipped 93 percent, with just 3,274, down 42,608 from 45,922 visitors in January 2020. Visitor arrivals from the Caribbean region were down 79.5 percent to 1,070 compared to 5,217 in January 2019, while Latin American arrivals fell 89 percent with 565 stopovers compared to 5,219 in January 2020. Just a sprinkling of arrivals came from the United Kingdom and Europe in 2021.
While the numbers were down, there was some good news as the lent of stay was up sharply by 60 percent over 2020, with Non‐ Resident Jamaicans jumping 65 percent. The increased length of stay suggests that individual visitor spend could be close to twice what it was in 2020.
According to data from the Jamaica Tourist Board, “the average length of stay of Foreign National arrivals in January 2021 was 13.8 nights, compared to 8.6 nights in January 2020. The average length of stay in hotels was 7.9 nights in January 2021, compared to 6.4 nights in January 2020. The average length of stay of Non‐Resident Jamaican arrivals in January 2021 was 27.9 nights, compared to 17 in January 2020. The average length of stay in hotels in January 2021 was 9.8 nights, compared to 7.3 nights in January 2020.”
Data out of Aeroportuario del Pacifico suggests that arrivals for February could be worse than in January with an 82 percent fall in arrivals through Sangster International Airport and 75 through Normal Manley compared to 2020, with the total arrival numbers being well down from January
Looking forward, word out of the industry is that bookings are in the 70 to 80 percent region for the summer months as the vaccine is rolled out over the United States Jamaica’s largest market for visitors.
