JAMAICA continues to be a top pick for tourists, specifically North Americans, among Caribbean destinations, even while listed as one of the most expensive.

For the 17th consecutive year, the country captured the Caribbean’s Leading Destination award at the 2023 World Travel Awards Caribbean & The Americas Gala, held late last month in St Lucia. In addition, the Jamaica Tourist Board won the Caribbean’s Leading Tourist Board award for the 15th year in a row.

In total the country carried home 30 awards from the regional travel and tourism showcase.

This, however, should be no surprise as the recent surveys conducted within the year show that visitor arrival to Jamaica and tourism receipts have surpassed pre-COVID levels.

Insights from the Mastercard Economics Institute’s report, Travel Industry Trends 2023: Experiences Endure and Business Travel Bounces Back, show that as of March this year spending on experiences in Jamaica rose 105.9 per cent above levels recorded in March 2019. This compared to a 70 per cent increase for Aruba, 25.7 per cent growth in Barbados, and a 40.2 per cent jump in The Bahamas for the same month.

When compared to 2022, tourists spent 71.5 per cent more on experiences and 27.2 per cent more on things in Jamaica in March 2023. However, for the January to March period spending on things was down 3.6 per cent.

“Leisure travel remains robust in the markets measured in the Caribbean compared to pre-pandemic levels [with] flight bookings in the Dominican Republic [up] 221.4 per cent, [in] Jamaica 128.7 per cent, and Puerto Rico 115.7 per cent,” the report released in June highlighted.

“Business travel and entertainment spending is also growing in the LAC (Latin America and the Caribbean) region, up 27 per cent for small businesses and 48 per cent for large businesses when looking specifically at March 2023 versus March 2022,” it continued.

Jamaica was, however, the second-most expensive market among budget-friendly destinations in the Caribbean, according to Florida, USA-headquartered travel insurance provider Square Mouth. Tourists on average paid US$4,698 for a trip to Jamaica during the summer, compared to US$4,917 in Aruba.

Outside the Caribbean, the Philippines and Vietnam were the most expensive budget-friendly destinations in the summer with the average costs for trips being US$5,330 and US$5,181, respectively.

“As the cost of travel continues to rise, Squaremouth’s data reveals that travellers are actively seeking out more affordable destinations this summer. This year, seven out of the top 10 most popular destinations have trip costs below the overall season average ,” a release from the company outlined.

“Not all destinations are budget-friendly,” Squaremouth continued.

The insurance provider compared travel insurance policy sales for trips purchased prior to July 10 with travel dates between June 21 and September 23 of 2022 and 2023.

Yet, leading up to the summer another US-based travel insurer, Allianz Partners, ranked Montego Bay, Jamaica as the fifth favourite international destination behind Mexico’s Cancun and San Jose del Cabo, Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, and the Aruban capital Oranjestad.

Following Jamaica were: Nassau, The Bahamas; Puerto Vallarta, Mexico: London, England; Providenciales, Turks and Caicos; and Charlote Amalie, US Virgin Islands.