KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, says visitor arrivals for June are estimated at 150,000 as the sector continues to rebound.

“So far, for the month of June, in seven days we have 37,000 visitors. That means we’re running at just over 5,000 per day,” he noted. 

The minister was speaking at a virtual meeting of the Kiwanis Club of East St Andrew on Tuesday.

The projected arrival figures for June will continue the growth trend for the tourism sector since the start of the year.

In January, Jamaica welcomed 40,000 tourists and more than 40,000 in February, with the figure increasing to 69,000 in March and growing to 102,000 in April.

In May, 135,000 tourists visited the country’s shores.

Bartlett said the increase in visitor arrivals has triggered greater demand for goods and services locally, while engaging more workers.

He noted that 80 per cent of tourism workers have returned to their jobs.

Bartlett informed that the industry lost 130,000 directly employed workers last year due to the pandemic.

“After March 20 [2020], we had zero arrivals, zero earnings and the 170,000 workers directly employed became 40,000,” he pointed out.

The minister noted that tourism remains one of the main drivers for the recovery of Jamaica’s economy and welcomed the return of the workers to the industry.