SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett has announced that Jamaica has earned US$ 5.7 billion since reopening its borders in June 2020. The data also shows that the island welcomed over five million visitors over the same period.

The announcement follows the destination’s strong tourism recovery efforts that saw its best summer ever, according to arrivals figures.

For the summer period, the island recorded over 224,000 stopover arrivals in June while 2019 June figures show 222,000 arrivals.

“These phenomenal earnings and arrivals figures are truly a testament to the hard work of my ministry, its public bodies and our many stakeholders and partners. Through our thought leadership, Jamaica was able to reopen its borders at the height of the pandemic and remain open to allow visitors to travel to the island safely and seamlessly.

This strong recovery is happening even amidst the disruptions that the pandemic is causing in the airline industry with flight cancellations and supply chain disruptions,” Bartlett said.

He made the announcement on Monday at the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s Travel Marketplace in San Juan Puerto Rico, where he is participating in the private-public partnership panel to discuss intra-Caribbean air connectivity, multi-destination marketing, and public policies for labour and employment among other industry business matters.

According to a release from the tourism ministry, since reopening in June 2020, the island welcomed approximately 5,173,000 visitors, which include stop over arrivals and cruise passengers.

“Tourism is a key driver in the overall economic recovery for Jamaica and these numbers augur well for the economy, lives and livelihoods. To have already earned US$5.7 billion is huge, given the major fallout from the pandemic,” Bartlett stated.

The island was one of the first destinations to reopen amidst the global coronavirus pandemic through its robust health and safety protocols and World Travel and Tourism Council approved resilient corridors. These innovative approaches allowed for the safe reopening of borders and travel and tourism activities.

“These numbers validate the hard work of our team and prove that our ideas and innovation are successful. We will continue our efforts to recover stronger as we work to surpass our 2019 achievements,” said Donovan White, director of Tourism, Jamaica.