US$1.3 Billion Earned by Jamaica from Tourism During First Six Months of 2016

News coming out of Jamaica from the Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett is pointing towards a positive return for the tourism sector in that country.

Speaking recently at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel the Honourable Minister Bartlett stated; "Tourism is the fastest growing economic activity in the world. Last year tourism earned $1.3 trillion and 1.2 billion people travelled across the globe. Here in the Caribbean 28 million people visited and we earned US$30 billion. At home in Jamaica, 3.7 million people visited and we earned US$2.5 billion."

The Minister also noted that the highest number of visitors for any July in Jamaica’s history was also recorded this year, 2016. This number stands at 211,000.

"The preliminary numbers for July exclude Jamaican Nationals and members of the Diaspora. This is a 4% increase over last year and when the Diaspora is added it will perhaps equal June’s 6%," said Minister Bartlett.

The numbers also indicate that The USA and the UK remain Jamaica’s strongest markets, with arrival figures of 147,053 and 15,782 respectively for June 2016.