Jamaica targeting 250,000 UK visitors by 2025

Jamaica's tourism ministry has set yet another ambitious target: to welcome 250,000 visitors out of the United Kingdom and Ireland by 2025. Minister of Tourism Ed Bartlett said the government is already putting plans in place to achieve the goal. "Jamaica welcomed 229,000 U.K. visitors last year, making it the number one destination in the Caribbean for British visitors, and we plan to aggressively build on this number. With additional airlift with the upcoming Norse flights next month along with our other long-standing airline partners, I am confident we will be able to meet this target," said Minister Bartlett. Beginning on December 1, Norse Atlantic Airlines from the United Kingdom will have flights to Montego Bay, operating four times a week from London Gatwick. The island already has daily nonstop flights from the U.K. through Virgin Atlantic Airways departing from London Heathrow, British Airways departing from London Gatwick, and TUI departing from Birmingham, London Gatwick, and Manchester.

"We are truly grateful to be number one in the Caribbean for British travelers, and it is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the team. With this new target, it means pushing even more to achieve this goal and retain the number one spot," said Elizabeth Fox, regional director, U.K. and Nordics, Jamaica Tourist Board.

Another ambitious goal

Jamaica has another major goal of attracting more than half a million Canadian visitors to the island by 2025, a 20 percent increase over the current figure of about 400,000. Several airlines will increase flights to the island to achieve this.

Record numbers

The island so far has seen record tourist numbers for this year. In the first half of 2023, Jamaica saw a boost in arrivals from the United Kingdom, a 69.2 percent surge in overall tourist arrivals compared to 2021. This growth has resulted in record-breaking earnings exceeding US$2 billion. Stakeholders in the tourism industry expect the island to close out the year with some 2.9 million stopover visitors and expressed optimism of surpassing the three-million mark in stopover arrivals next year, with earnings of more than $4.5 billion.