Jamaica has earned some US$1.3 billion from tourism for the first six months of this year.
This is according to statistics from the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) which was sent to the Ministry of Tourism.
It showed there were more than two million visitors to the island, which resulted in a 7.5 per cent increase from the corresponding year.
A release from the ministry noted that for the first half of 2016, total arrivals were put at 2,084,963, with 1,135,080 stopovers, increase by 2.5 percent. Also, there were 949,883 cruise ship passenger arrivals, which went up by 14.2 percent.
Minister for Tourism Edmund Bartlett said this is an indication that Jamaica is firmly on the path of welcoming four million visitors for 2016.
He noted that the highest number of visitors for any July in Jamaica’s history was also recorded this year, amounting to 211,000.
Bartlett said the preliminary numbers for July exclude Jamaican nationals and members of the Diaspora, which is a four percent increase over the last year.
The United States of American and the United Kingdom remain Jamaica’s strongest markets, with arrival figures of 147,053 and 15,782, respectively for the month of June.
Last year 3.7 million people visited Jamaica and spent more than US$30 billion.
