Jamaica Reporting Strong Performance By Canada

One thing that Donovan White, director of tourism for the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) is quick to make clear is that the Canadian market “has been doing exceedingly well.”

In Toronto to meet with partners, White told Press Today that up to the end of March of this year, Jamaica has already welcomed 177,000 visitors from Canada – that compares to the 95,000 Canadians who arrived during the same period in 2022.

“That’s a huge upswing,” White told Press Today, noting it’s even more impressive as the Canadian market “was slow in returning from the ravages of the pandemic, but [it has] certainly come back strong.”

For the summer months of May to August, White noted that Jamaica has “something like 136,000 air seats committed from Canada” which compared to the same period in 2022, it only had 76,000 seats committed.

“So, it’s a huge growth difference in terms of the confidence of the airline partners in the destination.” White said.

He also points out that the 177,000 Canadian arrivals so far this year represents about 15% market share which is about what Canada would have produced pre-pandemic.

Watch for more on Jamaica in an upcoming issue of Travel Courier.

In the photo 

The JTB’s Donovan White and Angella Bennett