Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says

beginning December, Jamaica will see an increase in flights out of South

America, which will bring more visitors from the continent to the island.

He said LatAm Airlines will inaugurate

three weekly flights from Chile and other South American countries to Montego

Bay.

This is in addition to 11 flights now

offered by Copa Airlines out of Panama, to bring the total weekly flights

between South America and Jamaica to 14.

 “That will go a long way in helping us to

further build out the South American market, which, right now, is the fastest

growing for Jamaica, at some 23 per cent at this time,” Minister Bartlett said.

He was speaking at a press conference at

the ministry’s New Kingston offices on Tuesday (October 1), where he announced

that Jamaica is expanding its source markets, with Japan and India being

targeted.

The minister noted that these marketing

engagements are critical in fortifying the resilience of the island’s tourism

industry against any fallout that could result from shocks such as a global

recession.

 “Jamaica is [being] proactive in its efforts

to ensure that our markets are secured, so that if there’s fallout from one

end, we can pick up from another and keep our growth momentum at the level that

we had projected,” he said.