KINGSTON, Jamaica — Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says Jamaica welcomed over 50,000 tourists in the first week of April, ahead of the island’s Carnival celebrations. This represents an increase of 12.4 per cent over the same period last year.

“Carnival in Jamaica is a marketable product on the calendar of events that attracts thousands of visitors to our island. This is why we have invested so heavily in the event and increased promotion globally through the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB).

“I am so happy that a whopping 51, 384 visitors chose to come to Jamaica to partake in this very important festivity — making it undoubtedly, one of the strongest weeks in arrivals so far in 2018,” said Bartlett.

The Ministry of Tourism said it acquired the brand Carnival in Jamaica last year.

This is in keeping with the ministry’s mandate to enhance seasonal events, including Carnival, through its Tourism Linkages Network.

“We have been putting measures in place to transform the carnival experience locally.

“There is an even broader effort to enhance and package various local entertainment offerings to attract more visitors to the island, especially to Kingston.

“Thanks to this targeted marketing approach, arrivals in Kingston have been in double digits since the Carnival in Jamaica initiative began,” said the minister.

Carnival in Jamaica is the initiative used as the umbrella brand for all carnival activities during the peak period of March 31 to April 8, 2018.

Following a highly successful inaugural Carnival in Jamaica initiative last year, the Ministry of Tourism once again collaborated with the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport and the National Carnival in Jamaica Stakeholders Committee to ensure that the event would remain successful.