Expenditures made by Jamaican tourists traveling abroad in 2020 amounted to less than 300 million U.S. dollars, dropping by more than 200 million in comparison to 2019. Passenger transportation accounted for the largest share of that spending in 2020, flipping the trend recorded the previous five years.

International tourism receipts are expenditures by international inbound visitors, including payments to national carriers for international transport. These receipts include any other prepayment made for goods or services received in the destination country. They also may include receipts from same-day visitors, except when these are important enough to justify separate classification. For some countries they do not include receipts for passenger transport items. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

In 2022, Jamaica welcomed nearly 1.9 million overnight tourist arrivals from the United States, ranking as the most popular country of origin among foreign visitors in the Caribbean island that year. The second place in the ranking was occupied by Canada with almost 270 thousand tourist arrivals. How long do visitors stay in Jamaica? The average number of nights spent by international tourists in Jamaica showed an overall declining trend between 2010 and 2019, going from an average of nine to less than eight, with some small growth happening between 2014 and 2016. However, foreign visitors in Jamaican territory stayed once again around nine nights in 2020 and 2021 on average, representing an increase of more than 15 percent versus 2019. Nonetheless in 2022, the average number of nights spent by tourists in the country decreased again to around 8 nights. When is the most popular month for tourists to travel to Jamaica? In July and December 2022, the average number of international overnight tourist arrivals in Jamaica was roughly 260 and 272 thousand visitors respectively, making these two months the most popular amongst tourists. Additionally, the month of December 2022 saw the highest year-over-year number of arrivals, with an increase of approximately 22 percent compared to December of the previous year. Thus, this recovery nearly reached pre-pandemic levels of 281 thousand in 2019. In terms of spending, international tourists in Jamaica contributed around 3.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, representing a 71 percent increase compared to the previous year. This growth was part of a broader trend throughout the 2010s, where inbound tourism spending in the Caribbean country steadily increased.

In 2022, Jamaica reported 3.3 million international tourists arrivals. This represented a growth of almost 1.8 million tourists compared to the previous year.

Jamaica saw a serious decline in the contribution of the tourism sector to its gross domestic product (GDP) due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In 2020, this sector accounted directly and indirectly for 12 percent of the country's GDP.

E-Commerce Transactions: AOV: Travel & Tourism: Car Rentals data was reported at 272.798 USD in 18 Feb 2025. This records a decrease from the previous number of 291.736 USD for 17 Feb 2025. E-Commerce Transactions: AOV: Travel & Tourism: Car Rentals data is updated daily, averaging 346.044 USD from Dec 2018 (Median) to 18 Feb 2025, with 2065 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 6,199.154 USD in 23 Dec 2020 and a record low of 37.620 USD in 03 May 2020. E-Commerce Transactions: AOV: Travel & Tourism: Car Rentals data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Grips Intelligence Inc.. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Jamaica – Table JM.GI.EC: E-Commerce Transactions: by Category.

1.329.700 (número) in 2020. International inbound tourists (overnight visitors) are the number of tourists who travel to a country other than that in which they have their usual residence, but outside their usual environment, for a period not exceeding 12 months and whose main purpose in visiting is other than an activity remunerated from within the country visited. When data on number of tourists are not available, the number of visitors, which includes tourists, same-day visitors, cruise passengers, and crew members, is shown instead. Sources and collection methods for arrivals differ across countries. In some cases data are from border statistics (police, immigration, and the like) and supplemented by border surveys. In other cases data are from tourism accommodation establishments. For some countries number of arrivals is limited to arrivals by air and for others to arrivals staying in hotels. Some countries include arrivals of nationals residing abroad while others do not. Caution should thus be used in comparing arrivals across countries. The data on inbound tourists refer to the number of arrivals, not to the number of people traveling. Thus a person who makes several trips to a country during a given period is counted each time as a new arrival.

In 2022, Jamaica counted over 23 thousand hotel rooms available for tourists, showing an increase of over 10 percent versus the previous year's figure. The area of Montego Bay – the main tourist spot in the Caribbean country – registered 9.6 thousand hotel rooms available after having approximately 8.5 thousand in the previous year. Montego Bay's hotel capacity accounted for over 41 percent of the island's total in 2022. In terms of hotel occupancy, nonetheless, the area of Ocho Rios led the list that year. Did Jamaican tourism recover from the impacts of COVID-19? Jamaica saw a sharp decline in the number of international tourist arrivals in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, dropping to levels even lower than those recorded 20 years earlier. However, 2022 marked a recovery with international tourist arrivals reaching 3.3 million, a significant increase compared to 2020 and 2021. This number nearly rivaled the pre-pandemic peak of 4.3 million in 2018. Additionally, Jamaica's total visitor expenditure increased by over 71 percent in 2022, showcasing the country's post-pandemic recovery. What is the status of Jamaica's cruise tourism? In 2022, the number of cruise passenger arrivals reached 850 thousand. This represented a substantial increase of approximately 780 thousand passengers compared to the previous year. Additionally, Carnival was the primary cruise line operating in Jamaica that year, and experienced a considerable increase by close to 304 thousand passengers compared to 2021.

Jamaica E-Commerce Transactions: AOV: Travel & Tourism data was reported at 137.838 USD in 18 Feb 2025. This records an increase from the previous number of 131.320 USD for 17 Feb 2025. Jamaica E-Commerce Transactions: AOV: Travel & Tourism data is updated daily, averaging 305.594 USD from Dec 2018 (Median) to 18 Feb 2025, with 2101 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 5,085.723 USD in 23 Dec 2020 and a record low of 12.950 USD in 09 Sep 2020. Jamaica E-Commerce Transactions: AOV: Travel & Tourism data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Grips Intelligence Inc.. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Jamaica – Table JM.GI.EC: E-Commerce Transactions: by Category.

Expenditures for travel items of Jamaica sank by 53.87% from 284,000,000 US dollars in 2019 to 131,000,000 US dollars in 2020. Since the 5.54% jump in 2018, expenditures for travel items plummeted by 54.20% in 2020. International tourism expenditures are expenditures of international outbound visitors in other countries. The goods and services are purchased by, or on behalf of, the traveler or provided, without a quid pro quo, for the traveler to use or give away. These may include expenditures by residents traveling abroad as same-day visitors, except in cases where these are so important as to justify a separate classification. Excluded is the international carriage of travelers, which is covered in passenger travel items. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

Jamaica E-Commerce Transactions: Value: Travel & Tourism data was reported at 827.027 USD in 18 Feb 2025. This records a decrease from the previous number of 919.243 USD for 17 Feb 2025. Jamaica E-Commerce Transactions: Value: Travel & Tourism data is updated daily, averaging 4,053.197 USD from Dec 2018 (Median) to 18 Feb 2025, with 2101 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 55,942.958 USD in 23 Dec 2020 and a record low of 12.950 USD in 09 Sep 2020. Jamaica E-Commerce Transactions: Value: Travel & Tourism data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Grips Intelligence Inc.. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Jamaica – Table JM.GI.EC: E-Commerce Transactions: by Category.

The United States was the leading source market for international tourism in Caribbean destinations in 2020. For instance, the North American country accounted for 26.2 percent and 72.4 percent of the inbound tourist arrivals in the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, respectively. These two countries were the first and third most visited Caribbean destinations in 2020. In the second country on the list that year, Cuba, the United States was not the leading inbound tourism market.

Abstract

The RFS in Caribbean was conducted in 13 countries between March and November 2020 and focused on the tourism industry and the restaurant, hotel and tour and transport companies. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, data collection was done both remotely and in-person depending on the restrictions in place and preference of respondent. The countries covered included Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos. The survey in the Caribbean focused on impacts of recent disasters to have affected the region, including Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Maria, Tropical Storm Dorian, etc. (see Table 2 for country and disaster list). The data collection was financed by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) with the objective of better understanding how natural hazards – large and small, affect the tourism industry in the Caribbean. The data informed the 360° Resilience: A Guide to Prepare the Caribbean for a New Generation of Shocks (Rozenberg, et al. 2021) to make recommendations on how Caribbean countries can invest resources to strengthen resilience in the region.

This project was a collaborative effort between GFDRR and Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience and Land Global Practice (GPURL).

Geographic coverage

Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos.

Analysis unit

• Firm level

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The sample was drawn to achieve representativeness at the country level as well as the regional level. In the Dominican Republic, sampling was done in a way to also achieve representativeness in 4 provinces in the country. Since there was no comprehensive list of firms operating in the tourism industry readily available to sample from, the firm hired to collect data created a sampling frame from scratch by contacting relevant organizations and websites. To be able to say something about different sectors within the tourism industry, the sampling was stratified by three sectors, including hotels and accommodation, restaurants and bars, and a third sector including rental, taxi and tour companies, attractions and souvenir shops (referred to in this note as hotel, restaurant and tour/transport sectors). The sample selection was then completed in one stage in which firms were selected by using a systematic random sampling method from each stratum.

Once the firm is selected for inclusion in the survey, every effort was made to interview the firm. The survey response rate was low due to the COVID pandemic, and replacements were done. Replacements were drawn from the same stratum. Due to restrictions in some countries, firms were not reachable, even after several attempts and replacements had been done. To compensate for low response rate in some countries, the sample size in other countries was increased. As a result, The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos have lower than expected sample size so caution should be applied when interpreting country level results from these two countries. See Technical Note for more detail on composition of final sample.

The final sample contains a total of 1413 firms across the 13 countries. Dominican Republic has the largest number of observations because the objective of sampling was also to achieve province level representativeness, in addition to country level representativeness, in 4 providences that rely heavily on tourism.

To make the survey estimates representative of the population, it is necessary to apply weights to selected firms during analysis. Regional weights (weight) are applied to statistics representing regional values while country weights (weight_i) are applied to all country level statistics.

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]

Research instrument

• Respondent characteristics • Firm characteristics • Clients • Infrastructure dependence and disruptions o Water o Electricity o Communication (phone and internet) o Road and boat • Suppliers • Disaster preparedness • Impacts of recent disasters (see Table 2) • Impacts of disease outbreaks (Zika and COVID-19) • Financial accounts

Cleaning operations

The following data editing was done for anonymization purpose:
• Precise location data, such as GPS coordinates, and subnational administrative divisions (admin 1) were dropped • Identifying and contact information, such as firm name, respondent’s name, supplier names, phone number and email contact, were dropped • Number of fulltime workers above 100 was recoded to “above 100 fulltime workers” to mitigate re-identification of the largest firms. See technical note for more details on anonymization.

Jamaica E-Commerce Transactions: AOV: Travel & Tourism: Tourist Attractions data was reported at 110.846 USD in 18 Feb 2025. This records an increase from the previous number of 104.585 USD for 17 Feb 2025. Jamaica E-Commerce Transactions: AOV: Travel & Tourism: Tourist Attractions data is updated daily, averaging 91.301 USD from Feb 2019 (Median) to 18 Feb 2025, with 433 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 245.460 USD in 09 May 2020 and a record low of 25.270 USD in 04 Nov 2019. Jamaica E-Commerce Transactions: AOV: Travel & Tourism: Tourist Attractions data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Grips Intelligence Inc.. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Jamaica – Table JM.GI.EC: E-Commerce Transactions: by Category.

Inflation in Jamaica dropped to about 3.91 percent in 2019, meaning that a group of goods that cost 100 Jamaican dollars in 2019 would cost 103.91 Jamaican dollars in 2020. This rate dropped from 4.38 percent in 2017 and was forecast to stay around 5 percent in the medium term.

Inflation and growth

After adjusting for inflation, the growth rate in Jamaica’s economy has been relatively slow over the past few years. This is an issue for the island because its gross domestic product per capita indicates a moderate level of development. This suggests that the people would benefit from a higher level of growth. Developmental economists often call this “catch-up” growth, a period of relatively rapid growth that occurs because the economy develops to the level of other countries that have fully realized their economic potential under modern levels of technology and trade.

Effects of inflation

Inflation is often associated with a corresponding increase in unemployment. In developed economies, central bankers worry about the tradeoff between higher inflation and higher unemployment. For Jamaica, more inflation may be the lesser of two evils. Since the Jamaican dollar is not pegged to any other currency, inflation also weakens the currency. For a country so heavily reliant on foreign currencies through tourism, this actually makes Jamaica a more attractive destination because tourists’ U.S. dollars or euros are worth more in relative terms.

In 2022, the resort areas of Ocho Ríos registered the highest hotel occupancy among major tourist zones in Jamaica. In second place, the area of Montego Bay registered a room occupancy rate of almost 67 percent.

In 2023, the unemployment rate in Jamaica was at approximately 4.4 percent, a slight decrease from previous years. Jamaica’s economy is in good shape Although on a steady downward trend after peaking at over 15 percent in 2013, Jamaica’s unemployment rate is still quite high but not alarmingly high in global comparison. More than half of the island’s population live in urban areas and cities already, and the numbers are rising. Most working Jamaicans are employed in the services sector, mainly tourism, but agriculture has been slightly growing as well – no surprise, since Jamaica is not only rich in resources but also cultivates and exports sugar, coconuts, bananas, cocoa, and citrus fruits, among other commodities. The hottest vacation destinationTravel and tourism provide a large share of Jamaica’s gross domestic product (GDP). The island is one of the most popular tourist destinations for Americans, for example, and reported more than 2.3 million overnight tourist arrivals in 2017 alone – a remarkable increase over the last decade and a new record for the country. Many of these tourists visit in December, and in 2017, a winter vacation in the warm Caribbean has even outranked a stay during the summer months.

电子商务交易：值：旅游观光在02-18-2025达827.027美元，相较于02-17-2025的919.243美元有所下降。电子商务交易：值：旅游观光数据按日更新，12-30-2018至02-18-2025期间平均值为4,053.197美元，共2101份观测结果。该数据的历史最高值出现于12-23-2020，达55,942.958美元，而历史最低值则出现于09-09-2020，为12.950美元。CEIC提供的电子商务交易：值：旅游观光数据处于定期更新的状态，数据来源于Grips Intelligence Inc.，数据归类于全球数据库的牙买加 – Table JM.GI.EC: E-Commerce Transactions: by Category。

This statistic shows the share of economic sectors in the gross domestic product (GDP) in Jamaica from 2013 to 2023. In 2023, the share of agriculture in Jamaica's gross domestic product was 9.02 percent, industry contributed approximately 18.65 percent and the services sector contributed about 60.14 percent.

Brazil led the list with a total of 4,390 kidnapping cases in the latest available data. Ecuador followed with 1,246 occurrences in 2022. On the flip side, there was only three reported kidnapping in the Antigua and Barbuda during that year. Homicides, another recurrent problem in Latin America Among the region's prevalent offenses, intentional homicide emerged as one of the main concerns in the region. Nonetheless, the rates vary among the different countries. Brazil leads the ranking of the most number of homicides in Latin America, as well as being the most populated country by far. On the other hand, Jamaica holds the top position according to the homicide rate, reporting nearly 61 instances per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023. Nevertheless, even with these varying homicide rates across countries, four out of five of the world's most perilous urban centers are situated in Mexico, with Colima leading the pack at a 2024 homicide rate of 140 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Cost of violence in Central America Following criminal acts, the responsibility for addressing the consequences falls squarely on the government, causing government expenditure to surge, called the cost of violence. Notably, Panama is more severely impacted in Central America, with the economic cost of violence per inhabitant accounting for over 3,771 U.S. dollars in 2022. In terms of a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), El Salvador takes the first place with a value of 15 percent of their GDP.