KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Tourism, Wykeham McNeill says that stopover arrivals between May 1 to August 7, 2012, increased 6.4 per cent over the corresponding period last year.

This represents more than 32,000 additional arrivals.

According to McNeil “based on preliminary figures stopover arrivals for the May 1 to August 7 period amounted to 539,957. This compares very favourably to the figures for the same period in 2011 when there were 507,298 stopover arrivals.”

This represents an increase of 32,659 additional visitors, McNeil said, adding that he’s pleased that the industry continued to register growth amid harsh economic conditions.

McNeil noted that one of the key factors contributing to the growth seen this year is “superb, aggressive marketing, through which we have been able to drive the inflow of visitors to the island.”

He added: “our promotional team continues to work in the traditional and emerging markets as we seek to increase our share in our main source markets, while opening up new doors.”