LONDON, United Kingdom— Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett has set a new target to welcome 250,000 visitors out of the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland by 2025.

This follows last year’s announcement of Jamaica being named the number one Caribbean destination among UK visitors.

READ: Jamaica now number one destination in Caribbean for UK visitors

“Jamaica welcomed 229,000 UK visitors last year, making it the number destination in the Caribbean for British visitors, and we plan to aggressively build on this number. With additional airlift with the upcoming Norse flights next month along with our other long-standing airline partners, I am confident we will be able to meet this target,” said Minister Bartlett.

The new target was announced at an exclusive media event held at the Jamaica stand at World Travel Market on Monday in London. Bartlett is joined by Chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board John Lynch and Senior Advisor and Strategist in the Ministry of Tourism, Delano Seiveright.

The World Travel Market in London is one of the largest tourism trade shows, facilitates £2.8 billion in industry deals and has around 5,000 exhibitors from 182 countries and regions and more than 51,000 participants.

The new Norse flight from Montego Bay is scheduled to begin in December, operating four times a week from London Gatwick. The island is already easily accessible from the United Kingdom through daily nonstop flights provided by Virgin Atlantic Airways departing from London Heathrow, British Airways departing from London Gatwick, and TUI departing from Birmingham, London Gatwick, and Manchester.

“We are truly grateful to be number one in the Caribbean for British travelers, and it is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the team. With this new target, it means pushing even more to achieve this goal and retain the number one spot,” said Elizabeth Fox, regional director, UK and Nordics, Jamaica Tourist Board.

In the first half of 2023, Jamaica witnessed a significant increase in arrivals from the UK, with a remarkable 69.2 per cent surge in overall tourist arrivals compared to 2021. This growth has resulted in record-breaking earnings exceeding US$2 billion.

The island is poised to welcome over three million visitors at the end of the year with foreign exchange earnings of a whopping US$4.2 billion.