Tourism strongly bouncing back

 Data on airport traffic for Jamaica suggests that visitor arrivals for April this year could be closer to 100,000 which would be well up on the 43,798 stopover tourist arrivals to Jamaica in February that data from the Jamaica Tourist Board show.
If the projected April numbers are achieved, they would still be well off from normal but would represent around 44 percent of the stopover arrivals in April of 2019, representing the month with the highest level of recovery so far.
According to the latest data from Aeroportuario del Pacifico, that manages airports in Mexico and Jamaica’s two international airports, enjoyed a 22.6 jump in passenger movements to 45,000 in April this year, up from 36,700 in March 2021. The Sangster International Airport handled 22 percent more passenger movements in April this year with a total of 157,600, up from 129,400 in March 2021, but that was just 37 percent of the 424,700 passenger movements in April 2019.
Actual tourist arrivals to Jamaica in February this year are down sharply on 2020 with stopovers of just 43,798, a decrease of 81 percent or 191,942 fewer arrivals from the 235,740 in February 2020. Arrivals in January and February this year dropped 81 percent, with just 87,629 stopovers arrivals, down 375,311 from the 462,940 arrivals in 2020, data from the Jamaica Tourist Board show.
Total passenger movements in March 2021 were 71 percent more than the 75,600 handled in February this year, an indication of a strong trend in recovery and suggesting that March visitor arrival numbers could hit 75,000, still way off from March 2020.
The development and trend in the sector have powerful messages for the local business sector and stock market investors. It means a greater supply of foreign exchange inflows, with April numbers indicating likely inflows of US$100 million, with more increases that can be expected as the year progresses.
Listed companies serving the sector should enjoy increased revenues from the sector and companies such as Express Catering, Caribbean Producers and Everything Fresh that garners their major income from the sector should enjoy a big jump in revenues from the sector. The Jamaican Government will enjoy an increased level of taxes and workers in the sector should see more demand for their services as hotels require more workers to serve the guests.