Jul 2016 Financial News

Jamaica Looks to the East to Boost Cruise Tourism Sector

Jul 26, 2016

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Tuesday July 26, 2016 – Countries all over the world, including in the Caribbean, get a lot from China, whether directly or indirectly. But while clothing and consumer goods are what they usually look to the Asian country for, Jamaica is going after something more.

Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett says the Government will be looking to the Chinese market to help score a boost in earnings from the cruise ship sector by 2021.

“In September I am going to China, and we are going to talk about the possibility of having Chinese cruise emanating from within our area and going into the rest of the Caribbean,” he said.

“That would enable us to look at other ports.”

Bartlett made the disclosure following a tour of development projects in Falmouth.

Noting that the Falmouth Pier is being earmarked as the centrepiece for growth within the cruise shipping subsector, he said Government is projecting J$5 billion (US$39.5 million) in earnings from five million cruise ship passengers stopping in the island by 2021.

“We want to see Falmouth grow to 1.5 million visitors over that period of time, because it has the capacity,” he noted.

The projected growth in the tourism industry should result in more than 120,000 people being directly employed and another 300,000 people from induced employment, Bartlett said.

Source:
Caribbean360
Tuesday July 26, 2016

http://www.caribbean360.com/news/jamaica-looks-east-boost-cruise-tourism-sector