Buoyed by a record 11 per cent increase in stopover visitor arrivals for the month of July over the same month last year, and continued record growth numbers across the board, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett will next week lead a team of tourism officials to London, UK.

The visit, which is timed with IAAF World Championships, will see a blitz of engagements with industry stakeholders across the airline, hotel, tour operator, travel agency, and media sectors.

Jamaica’s athletics team is expected to scoop up several medals and share in the historic occasion where Jamaican sprint superstar and record holder Usain Bolt will compete in the 100m and 4x100m relay as he bids farewell to the sport while watched by millions of fans around the globe.

“The number of tourists we have coming from the United Kingdom so far this year is roughly 40 per cent ahead of where we were three years ago. We take the UK market seriously and with the boom of the World Championships, the JTB (Jamaica Tourist Board) in conjunction with our industry partners have ramped up marketing in the market, including having 150 of London’s famed black taxi cabs emblazoned with the moniker Less Traffic and More Jammin, coupled with colourful Jamaica-themed images depicting an inviting scene of the island,” Bartlett said.

Bartlett and his team, in conjunction with the Ministry of Culture, Gender Affairs, Entertainment and Sport, are also leading activities at Jamaica House 2017 at Indigo at The O2, Peninsula Square in London, which will be a melting pot for visitors from Jamaica, Britain and around the world for Jamaican-flavoured fun, food, drinks and entertainment.

The concept of Jamaica House was designed to leverage the global focus on the country’s athletes and Brand Jamaica.

Meanwhile, Senior Advisor/Strategist Delano Seiveright noted that the tourism minister will also give focus to the JTB-pushed and -sponsored Jamaica Garden Terrace at the Scottish-influenced Boisdale Restaurant in London’s financial district, Canary Wharf.

“With 120,000 people working within a few minutes’ walk of the Terrace, the area is headquarters to many well-known banks, financial institutions and professional services firms such as Barclays, Citigroup, HSBC, JP Morgan, KPMG, Morgan Stanley, RBC and Reuters to name a few. The Terrace features Jamaican food as well as musical performances from well-known Jamaican artistes and will remain in place until August 31,” Seivwright noted.

The tourism minister will be in the UK from tomorrow to August 15 and will be accompanied by Chairman of the JTB John Lynch, Director of Tourism Paul Pennicook; and Senior Advisor/Strategist Delano Seiveright, along with JTB officials based in the UK.