JTB targets cruise passengers for overnight return visits

WESTERN BUREAU:

The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) has announced plans to convert more cruise passengers into overnight visitors as part of the next phase of its plans to generate greater economic benefits from the island’s expanding cruise sector.

According to Director of Tourism Donovan White, the JTB is placing increasing emphasis on what it describes as “cruise conversion” – encouraging passengers who first experience Jamaica on a cruise itinerary to return for longer stopover vacations.

“We need to create more cruise access, but we also need more cruise conversion,” White told members of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association’s 65th Annual General Meeting at Sandals Dunn’s River on Saturday. He said the strategy would create greater opportunities for local suppliers of goods and services while generating more spending throughout the economy.

White’s comments reinforce a broader policy direction outlined recently by Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, who has argued that Jamaica should no longer measure the success of cruise tourism simply by the number of passengers arriving at its ports.

Presenting his Sectoral Debate in Parliament, Bartlett said the island is projected to welcome approximately 1.5 million cruise passengers during the 2026-27 financial year, describing that as “a powerful platform for growth”.

MEASURE OF SUCCESS

However, he argued that the real measure of success should be how many passengers patronise Jamaican businesses, visit local attractions, purchase Jamaica-made products and ultimately return as stopover visitors.

“The new logic is clear: not traffic alone, but value from traffic. Not arrivals alone, but conversion into Jamaican opportunity,” Bartlett said.

He announced that the Government would advance its Cruise Conversion Programme with greater urgency, placing increased emphasis on expanding homeporting operations, strengthening cruise provisioning and increasing on-island spending by cruise passengers.

The programme will also seek to deepen the participation of micro, small and medium-sized tourism enterprises by creating more opportunities for farmers, fishers, artisans, transport operators, restaurateurs and community tourism operators to benefit from cruise tourism.

Bartlett said success would also be measured by the number of cruise passengers coming ashore, how many crew members spend locally, how many visitors support Jamaican restaurants, attractions, transport providers and entertainment, and, critically, how many return to the island as stopover guests.

For White, the strategy forms part of the JTB’s wider effort to ensure tourism growth benefits a broader cross-section of the Jamaican economy.

He said stronger cruise conversion would help create additional demand for local suppliers while supporting the industry’s long-term growth objectives beyond simply increasing cruise arrivals.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com