Jamaica minister of tourism, Edmund Bartlett, has said he expects the destination to make a full recovery from the impact of Covid-19 by 2023.
This is a year earlier than many analysts had anticipated at the outset of the crisis last spring.
Speaking at a meeting of the Caribbean Alternative Investment Association (CARAIA), he said: “It is going to be a slow and arduous process, but we are already seeing very positive signs and I am confident that by 2023 we will once again be seeing significant gains.”
Minister Bartlett outlined the severity of the damager over the past year-and-a-half.
He explained Jamaica had anticipated 2.9 million stopover visitors for April 2020 to March this year, while these guests were expected to spend around $200 billion.
In fact, with under 500,000 visitors actually arriving, expenditure was only $44 billion.
The loss in visitor expenditure to Jamaica over the period was thus $156 billion.
Looking ahead, minster Bartlett was, however, confident growth would return.
“By 2023,” he said, “we will be well on our way to recovery with projections of 3.7 million visitors and earning US$3.5 billion in revenue; and by 2024 we will be back on track for 4.2 million visitors and US$4 billion in tourism revenue.
“Here lies the opportunity in this crisis.
“Despite the devastating impact of the pandemic on global tourism economies, as we put plans in place to rebuild, we now can re-imagine the industry and create a tourism product that is safe, inclusive, resilient and sustainable.”
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Jamaica is considered the World’s Leading Family Destination by voters at the World Travel Awards.