Jamaica’s Tourism Minister has high hopes for Canada – namely making the island the No. 1 destination in the Caribbean from this country, and with no less that a million visitors a year to boot. Currently boasting over 300,000 Canadian visitors a year, Edmund Bartlett has declared a goal of 500,000 annual visitors by 2025, which would eclipse the 400,000 high watermark in 2010.
In Toronto recently for a destination marketing mission, Bartlett told travel industry today that Jamaica is currently a third most visited country in the region, but that “our aim is No. 2.”
“PC” (post-COVID), Bartlett says the half a million target is “highly attainable” and a million might be by 2030.
“And that’s where you really want to go,” he says. “Then you can eclipse everybody else and be where you should be as the No 1 destination. It’s in our grasp.”
Bartlett believes his goals are attainable due to the growth of the Canadian market – not least in the middle-class segment.
Further, he says, Canada’s demographic diversity will allow the JTB to attempt niche marketing, including Asian-Canadians and IndianCanadians, and all the “hyphenated Canadians,” he smiled – efforts that already under way.
Bartlett concedes that for Jamaica “airlift is the name of the game” – laughing, “We’re an island, you can’t swim to us.”
And to that end, the minister says a great deal of energy is put into partnerships with Canadian carriers, which continue to see growth with the likes of new airlines Flair and Canada Jetlines adding service this fall.
Bartletts adds that discussions are also ongoing with legacy carriers like Air Canada and WestJet to expand existing capacity.
Cruise is also a “big item” for Jamaica, he says, adding, “Canadians cruise and we want to expand that landscape.”
At the same time Bartlett continues, “we want to build the strength up of our tour operator and travel agent partnerships.”
By example, last month the JTB and Ensemble (JTB) announced a strategic partnership to spotlight Jamaica’s luxury tourism products that will feature a series of educational activities and engagement initiatives designed to help empower Ensemble travel advisors to sell Jamaica’s premium offerings. The JTB has engaged a group of elite on-island hotel and tour operator partners to collaborate on the initiative, including Round Hill, Half Moon, Island Routes, Club MoBay/Club Kingston VIP Attractions, among others.
Last but not least, Bartlett hopes to strengthen the Jamaican diaspora response to its tourism product. “We have 285,000 people living in Toronto alone,” he says. “They are a big part of the strategy.”