TOURISM Minister Edmund Bartlett on Monday lauded Nigerian international music star Burna Boy for his performance in Jamaica which attracted thousands of locals and visitors to the island.

Bartlett also noted the heightened exposure for Jamaica by American music stars Cardi B and Offset who vacationed on the island recently.

“I applaud African superstar Burna Boy for his fantastic performance at the National Stadium last evening [Sunday], which was certainly a must-see event for many of our locals, and indeed visitors to the island who flocked Kingston to attend this massive entertainment offering. Having Cardi B and Offset here was another big plus too,” said Bartlett.

“Entertainment remains an important value-added product which we will continue to utilise strategically within the tourism industry to enhance the sector’s growth. In fact, it is one of the passion points of our visitors and one of the many reasons why persons travel to Jamaica yearly.

“We therefore look forward to many more private sector-led events in the near future which will continue to positively impact our tourism sector and the many small and medium entrepreneurs who benefit from them,” he added.

The Grammy-winning Burna Boy announced his ‘Love, Damini Summer 2022 Tour’ shortly after his record-breaking, sold-out debut at Madison Square Garden in New York in April.

On Sunday at the National Stadium in St Andrew the Caribbean portion of the tour came to an end, despite some technical glitches, with performances by Popcaan, Toni-Ann Singh, and Lila Ike.

“Jamaica continues to be the Caribbean’s celebrity playground, with recent visits from other musicians like rappers Cardi B and Offset. There are several others, global celebrities, who have vacationed or are currently vacationing quietly, and they are very appreciative of the relaxed, non-paparazzi like Jamaican culture, thereby allowing them to vacation in peace.

“Villas are the priority, but we do have many who have or are currently staying at known luxury hotels, Airbnbs, and even some all-inclusive properties,” said Delano Seiveright, senior advisor and strategist in the Ministry of Tourism.

“On our part, we will continue to develop and promote our country around the world in order to encourage other major international celebrities to the island,” Seiveright added.

Jamaica is seeing a sustained surge in visitors and seems set to beat arrival and earnings records, with United Kingdom visitors’ overall holidays to Jamaica selling at 25 to 40 per cent more than in 2019.

That, Seiveright argued, is attributable to the decision by Bartlett to have his officials remain dynamic and strategically focused in the global tourism space over the last two and a half years as the COVID-19 pandemic brought once in a lifetime disruptions and collapsed much of the global tourism industry in that period.

According to recent projections by the tourism ministry, Jamaica will see its strongest winter travel season ever this year, with anticipated record arrivals of 950,000 stopover visitors and 524,000 cruise passengers.

This is the highest volume of visitors the country has ever experienced — nearly 1.5 million for the entire season.

In tandem, Jamaica is expecting a boost this winter season with US$1.4 billion in tourism earnings anticipated and 1.3 million air seats secured for the period.