The tourism industry is expected to grow this year, even more than it did in 2015.

According to Director of Tourism Paul Pennicook, the number of stopover visitors to Jamaica last year grew by two per cent (roughly 50, 000 more visitors than in 2014) and is projected to continue to increase.

“We have put out some very ambitious targets; we are projecting to grow some four per cent in stopovers in 2016. That’s going to take a lot of work, but that’s what we are projecting,” Pennicook told Jamaica Observer.

The director attributed this expectation to the expansion within the industry as more rooms are to be opened throughout the year.

He added that approximately 1,200 additional rooms (new and refurbished) have been opened this winter to accommodate more visitors.

“Being specific, 700 rooms in Ocho Rios in the Moon Palace, which were not there last winter, are now back in the system. The Melia Braco… they were not there last winter, they are now open. Right here in Kingston the Courtyard Marriott is now open; it was not there last winter. Bahia Principe has 200 new rooms they have opened that were not opened last winter. Later on this year, we’re going to see rooms open at the Camere in Montego Bay and late in the year we should see more rooms at Royalton in Trelawny and rooms are being built in Negril,” he noted.

“Because of all the additional room accommodation, and I do not underestimate what’s happening in the small hotels resort cottages, villas and so on, because there is an entity called Airbnb that is doing very well to Jamaica and, frankly, Airbnb are not staying in the traditional accommodations. That’s the basis of how they exist; they are doing very well in Jamaica and so when you put that all together, along with the new rooms that are built, we’re looking to get that four per cent increase,” he confidently stated.

Last week the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) declared 2016 as the “Year of Romance in the Caribbean” with over 30 participating countries on board to promote the newly declared theme.

But Pennicook, who is not worried by the anticipated ‘competition’, lamented that romance is nothing new to the island as Jamaica has always been known as the romantic isle. Ranking in what he described as the big five – that is Mexi-Caribbean, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Cuba and Puerto Rico – the JTB head said Jamaica has always done well in tourism in comparison to other islands.

“I think part of it is that we have the infrastructure that gives us a bit of an edge. We have so many couples in all -inclusive resorts in Jamaica that this makes us a natural leader in the category,” the JTB head proudly said.

“A lot of the resorts that are for everybody, you find that particularly in the spring, summer and the fall, it is mostly couples who arrive. The Jamaica Tourist Board statistics will show that the vast majority of visitors to Jamaica are couples — young, middle-aged and older couples. A lot of couples come to Jamaica,” he continued.

The CTO said that with the launch of this new initiative, the focus will include first or second marriages and the renewal of vows, the most romantic locations to “pop the question” or say “I do”, and inviting celebrity couples to get married in the Caribbean.

But Pennicook noted that Jamaica has always been an active part of the romance market and is a popular romantic destination for honeymoons and destination weddings.

“We are also very popular for anniversaries and renewal of vows. I know that individual hotel companies once again promote that very effectively, and as a destination we are always promoting the fact that there are huge romantic spots in Jamaica and that we are a romantic island, and so we definitely get a lot of weddings and honeymooners,” Pennicook outlined.

He boasted that Destination Weddings Travel Group – one of the leading destination wedding planners worldwide – listed Jamaica as the second most popular wedding destination in the 2015 destination wedding trends report.

“World Travel Awards has [also] voted Jamaica the World’s Leading Wedding Destination back in 2014 and World’s Most Romantic Destination in 2012. So you know as I said we have been in this category for quite a long time and we intend to continue to do exactly that,” he said with a grin.

With the increase in the advertising of destination weddings in the Caribbean, the Sunday Observer asked whether this declaration would influence the laws on same-sex marriages in the region, to which the JTB head denied.

“I do not expect it to have much of an impact in the sense that I think our major markets are very aware of our local laws. Our local laws are as such that I do not believe anywhere in the Caribbean has yet sanctioned same-sex weddings. That is not to say same sex couples aren’t coming to all our destinations; they come to all our destinations and I mean they are accommodated and that’s not an issue. But to go the next step of marriage or civil unions, our laws do not permit it and so our major markets are very much aware of that, and so I do not expect a problem,” he said.