MONTEGO BAY, St James — Tourism stakeholders are upbeat this morning following yesterday afternoon’s arrival of Air Canada’s Dreamliner flight from Toronto, Canada, at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, St James.

Shortly after the Air Canada flight, Condor from Frankfurt, Germany, also arrived at the airport, much to the delight of players in the tourism sector.

Air Canada will call at the Montego Bay airport once per week while Candor will visit twice weekly.

An elated Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett pointed out the significance of the Air Canada flight, which he said, among other things, signals the return of the Canadian market — the destination’s second-largest tourism market, behind America.

“I am pleased to welcome the return of Air Canada to Jamaica after the six-month hiatus from January this year and now the reopening of the borders to allow for tourist travel,” said Bartlett.

“The importance of this particular arrival today [yesterday] is that it brings a new equipment into the mix, the Dreamliner. It is the first time that Air Canada would be using a Dreamliner into Jamaica. It will bring 296 passengers and it commences the return of the Canadian market. We are excited about that prospect because today it begins the start of yet another series of new flights coming into Jamaica,” said Bartlett.

Senior advisor/strategist in the tourism ministry, Delano Seiveright echoed similar sentiments.

“Our tourism sector has been propped up by the US market for several weeks and months so we are really happy about this slow but steady return of the Canadian market and the Air Canada flight between Toronto and Montego Bay,” said Seiveright.

For her part, Angela Bennett, regional director of tourism for Canada at the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), said the agency is expecting a good performance from the Canadian market for the coming winter season.

“We are high on Canada and we are expecting it to perform exceptionally well this winter. We have secured over 280,000 seats into the destination this winter and already today [yesterday] —as you [can] see — one of our key partners, Air Canada, has flown that Dreamliner into the destination with a 60 per cent capacity.

“This aircraft is their new, modern, sleek aircraft. It holds 298 seats and I am very excited to welcome this aircraft into Jamaica,” said Bennett.

“There is a surge in bookings coming into Jamaica from Canada and this has happened since the Government of Canada has lifted the restrictions on international travel, the main one being the three-day mandatory quarantine for all Canadians returning to Canada who are fully vaccinated.

“So we are expecting all our airline partners to be flying back to Jamaica this winter, and we salute Air Canada and West Jet to be the first to fly back to Jamaica into Montego Bay.”