MIAMI, Florida – As Jamaica’s tourism continues its robust recovery, the island has been dubbed the number one Caribbean destination for Delta Vacations in terms of growth.

The announcement, which follows the island’s double-digit growth in terms of demand and outpacing one of its major competitors, Mexico, was shared during a high-level meeting with Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett and senior executives of Delta Airlines at their headquarters in Atlanta on Wednesday.

With over fifty years in business, Delta Vacations, a Delta Airlines company, is one of the largest vacation providers in the United States (US), and Delta Airlines is a major airline out of the US and is a legacy carrier.

“Jamaica’s tourism products and offerings continue to be top of mind for consumers of our major airline partners like Delta. Coming out of the pandemic, we have seen the demand for Jamaica grow as people search for the real and authentic experiences that we have to offer. It is truly gratifying to see that this growth is evident amongst our key tourism partners and will allow for further discussions for additional seats and routes,” said Bartlett.

The meeting forms part of an overarching marketing blitz, led by Minister Bartlett and his team, with a series of tourism engagements in the US, the country’s largest source market.

Atlanta forms one of the major cities where Jamaica welcomes a large influx of American visitors. It also has a strong Diaspora that usually chooses to return to Jamaica to vacation and spend in the destination. Data from Delta Airlines has also indicated that seats to Jamaica are up ten per cent for the upcoming summer, which will add to the very favourable projections as the best summer for the destination.

Minister Bartlett, with his team of senior tourism officials, has also engaged with other critical stakeholders in New York and Miami to ensure the sector leverages the strong projections for summer.

“Our discussions also explored the possibility of multi-destination experiences through Delta’s long-haul routes that coincide with our target for emerging markets like India and Africa. We are looking at visitors from countries opting to make Jamaica a destination spot through these routes,” said Bartlett.