Tourism Minister Bartlett to Participate in Arabian Travel Market Trade Show in Dubai

Jamaica is experiencing robust growth in tourist arrivals, with Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett predicting the island will reach a historic milestone of two million stopover and cruise visitors at end of May. This surge is also expected to generate approximately US$2 billion in earnings.

A statue of Sintra Bronte, the woman at the centre of Jamaica’s iconic tourism campaign of the 1970s, was unveiled Wednesday evening at the Strings Restaurant at the S Kingston in St Andrew.

At ATM 2024, leaders from the Seychelles and Mauritius tourism sectors, including Donald Payen and Alain St.Ange, reconnected to discuss strengthening tourism ties and future collaborations.

Connecting Travel Marketplace, formerly Global Travel Marketplace, is set to expand with new editions in the UK and Italy, enhancing its role in connecting high-spend travel industry professionals. This evolution aligns with Jacobs Media’s 15th anniversary and aims to boost global travel business opportunities.

With things looking up for tourism in The Bahamas, representatives of the country’s Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation (BMOTIA) are set to build on their success at the 42nd edition of Caribbean Travel Marketplace. Hosted by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) and scheduled for 20 - 23 May 2024 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Jamaica, the Caribbean’s largest tourism marketing event will offer opportunity for The Bahamas to shine as buyers and sellers of tourism products and services from countries across the region convening for business. In 2023, The Bahamas saw record-breaking tourism growth accounting for 9.6 million visitors, up 38% from 2022. While foreign air arrivals rose 17% to record 1.7 million in 2023, cruise arrivals surged 43.5% to record 7.9 million. The country’s 16 islands all enjoyed significant increases, with visits to New Providence, for instance, up 36% in 2023, to Grand Bahama up 44%, and the Out Islands up 40%.

The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) aims to reimagine the region’s tourism landscape at the third annual Caribbean Travel Forum, taking place Monday, May 20 in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Kicking off this year’s Caribbean Travel Marketplace, the annual event brings together leading regional and international thought leaders to discuss tourism business opportunities and strategies for success in the Caribbean, the heart of the global travel industry.

Boutique Group, a pioneering ultra-luxury hospitality group fully owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, marks its first independent participation at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM), one of the most significant tourism industry events in the world.

Following fruitful discussions with Senior Executives of Emirates Airline, Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett says plans are underway to include Jamaica as one of the hubs for the airline in the Caribbean. Emirates Airline, based in Dubai, is one of the world’s fastest growing airlines that connects its customers to a network of over 150 destinations.

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has expressed his excitement about the recent developments within the Jamaican tourism industry as Catalonia Hotels & Resorts yesterday (May 7) announced its purchase of the Holiday Inn Resort, Montego Bay from East Bay Management Company Limited, led by prominent Jamaican businessman Kevin Hendrickson. Minister Bartlett celebrated the move by Catalonia, a respected international hospitality brand, as a strong signal of confidence in Jamaica’s tourism sector and a potential trigger for further investments.

Jamaica has recorded an impressive 1.7 million visitors as of May 7 of this year. Based on preliminary data, the island recorded 1,016,185 stopover arrivals and over 700,000 cruise passengers, earning roughly US$1.8 billion in revenue. This represents a 4.6% increase in stopover arrivals and a 23% increase in cruise passengers compared to the same period in 2023.

As passenger numbers in the Middle East are predicted to reach 429 million this year, representing a 5.4% increase on 2019 figures, a panel of aviation experts convened at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) yesterday to discuss how the market is changing, outlining their predictions for the future of air travel. The session, ‘Looking Skyward for Innovation: How Technology is Disrupting Aviation’, was moderated by travel expert Mark Frary and included panellists from Cirium, IATA, AviationXLab, and Riyadh Air.

Egypt will showcase its commitment to enhancing the tourist experience and attracting new visitors from the UAE, GCC, and globally by highlighting the country’s tourism potential, forthcoming projects, and future initiatives at Arabian Travel Market 2024 (ATM) in Dubai as it looks to build on the record 15 million tourists welcomed in 2023.