Jamaica Welcomed More Than 1.9 Million Visitors in 2010

Jamaica welcomed more than 1.9 million visitors in 2010, registering a year-on-year increase of 4.7 percent. This was disclosed by Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett.

Further elaborating on the figures he said there was a 6.8 per cent increase in stopover arrivals and a 2.1 per cent increase in cruise ship passenger arrivals. He also said that provisional estimates indicated that Jamaica earned close to US$2 billion from stop over arrivals in 2010.

Cruise ship passengers are likely to increase once the Falmouth pier becomes operational on 17 February 2011.

The rise in figures is all the more impressive in the face off the upheaval in West Kingston which took place in May and June last year.

Going by the trends, the island is hoping for better visitor turnout for the rest of the High Season which began on 16 December 2010. Jamaica accommodation providers are looking forward to more bookings for the annual Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival that will take place between 23 to 29 January. The festival will feature high-calibre musicians such as Gladys Knight, Joss Stone and Kenny G. Hear Country, R&B and others.

The festival will take place at Greenfield Stadium in Falmouth, which is at an easy distance from Silver Sands Villas, Jamaica, a secure community of villas and cottages on the famed North Coast of the island.