Surging Demand for Jamaica Vacations Amidst Travel Boom

Jamaica’s strong visitor arrivals continued across early 2023, as the Caribbean nation’s travel demand surged by 50 percent during the first five months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2019, according to Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) officials.

Citing data obtained from Expedia, Jamaica’s early 2023 visitor demand outpaced 2019 in terms of bookings, room nights and length of stay, said Edmund Bartlett, the country’s tourism minister.

Jamaica welcomed its two millionth visitor in June, reflecting a nine percent increase in arrivals (including both land-based and cruise ship visitors) compared with June 2019. Government and tourism officials say the island will host 3.9 million visitors in 2023.

Expedia’s data “aligns with our visitor arrival data [which shows travelers to Jamaica are arriving in droves to experience all we have to offer,” Bartlett said. Jamaica is Jamaica is in the top five Caribbean destinations searched for and booked on Expedia Group’s sites, he said.

“On this trajectory, we anticipate an even higher demand for the summer,” Bartlett added.

“Jamaica continues to be a leading destination within the Caribbean for Expedia Group travelers, and we are thrilled to see the island’s strong recovery,” said Jennifer Andre, Expedia Group’s vice president of business development.

“Together with [JTB], we look forward to keeping the strong momentum going by generating travel demand to the island through tailored distribution and marketing efforts,” added Andre.

The Expedia study also found travelers to Jamaica are planning their vacations farther ahead, as 70 percent of Jamaica travelers have booked more than 30 days in advance in 2023, compared with 63 percent in 2022.