Jamaica`s tourist arrivals for the twelve-month period of January through December 2004 have increased 4.8 percent over the same period in 2003, and by 11.7 percent over 2002. There were a total of 1,326,918 foreign stopover arrivals to Jamaica since January 2004, an increase of over 60,000 visitors despite the effects of Hurricane Ivan in September. Total stopover arrivals amounted to 1,414,786 - a 4.8 percent increase from 2003. The vast majority of arrivals came from the U.S., with the heaviest activity from the northeast market. There were:

996,131 stopover arrivals from the U.S., representing an increase of 3 percent;

105,623 stopover arrivals from Canada, an increase of 10.9 percent;

241,925 stopover arrivals from Europe, an increase of 10.7 percent - of these, 161,606 came from the U.K., representing an increase of 7.9 percent.

Director of Tourism Paul Pennicook is very pleased that efforts of the Jamaica Tourist Board are yielding such positive results. We are ecstatic about the growth of the Jamaican tourism sector in 2004. It demonstrates that the people of Jamaica are very enthusiastic to expose the many facets of our culture, and the world is listening, he commented.

Director Pennicook was especially excited as he looked forward to an even better year in 2005, which happens to be the 50th anniversary of the Jamaica Tourist Board. The JTB has a lot planned in celebration of its golden anniversary, including a press launch this month, commemorative event launches in New York, Toronto, the UK, Europe, and Japan, in addition to a major presence at Caribbean Week in New York City this May and at World Travel Market later this year in London.