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TOURISM MINISTER Edmund Bartlett has revealed that Jamaica welcomed over 20,000 visitors to its shores last Wednesday.

Speaking during the closing session of the fourth annual Tourism Outlook Seminar at the Half Moon Conference Centre in Montego Bay, St James, Bartlett said the visitors arrived by air at the Sangster International Airport and by sea at the Montego Freeport, as well as the Falmouth and Ocho Rios cruise ports.

Bartlett said, “Wednesday, April 20, 2011 was a particularly strong day for Jamaica in terms of visitor arrivals. It was a joy to see all three major cruise ports being very active, with Montego Bay welcoming 6,600 visitors, the new Falmouth Pier saw 5,500 visitors while Ocho Rios welcomed 3,500. In addition, over 5,000 visitors arrived at the Sangster International Airport.”

The tourism minister stated that “if the trend of high arrivals continues, Jamaica’s tourist arrival figures will be hitting new heights by the end of this year and more Jamaicans will see the full impact of the industry in their communities”.

Speaking at the seminar, Bartlett stated that there was a 5.6 per cent increase in stopover arrivals in Jamaica during the 2010-2011 winter tourist season, which came to an end on April 15. The increase, he said, was in keeping with growth projections of between four and five per cent in visitor arrivals.

The tourism minister also announced that Jamaica recorded a 9.6 per cent increase in cruise arrivals during the winter tourist season over the same period in 2010.

Source: The Jamaica Gleaner