Jamaica's Tourist Arrivals On The Upswing

By Devon Evans, Gleaner Writer

Hardbeatnews, KINGSTON, Jamaica, Fri. Nov. 9, 2007: Jamaica is tourist arrivals has seen an upswing during the past two months, the island’s new tourism minister recently announced.

Minister Edmund Bartlett recently revealed that tourism arrival figures for September showed an increase of 4.8 per cent over the same period last year. And that preliminary figures for October shows an 8.5 per cent increase over last year's figures.

The country had earlier this year reported a downturn in arrivals which was blamed largely on the implementation of the US’ Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative which makes it a requirement for US nationals traveling to the region to hold a passport.

Minister Bartlett added that 2008 is going to be a "very powerful year" in terms of visitor arrivals, noting that the reports of advanced bookings from tour operators are “extremely positive.”

In addition, he said that the "reports coming out of New York and the whole North-eastern seaboard (of theUnited States),are all good." – Hardbeatnews.com