A view of the cruise ship, 'Freedom of the Seas' which docked in Montego Bay recently. Cruise ship arrivals up 11 per cent in January, according to governmentstatistics. - File

A late winter season, the revitalisation of the Mexican resort destination, Cancun, and the implementation of the U.S. passport initiative were some of the reasons why tourist arrivals for the month of January were flat on last year figures, according to government officials.

Total visitors arrivals during January increased by 3.2 per cent on the corresponding month in 2006, when 260,000 foreign nationals and residents visited the island.

"The preliminary figures showed that we would have seen a decline, but when our Research and Market Intelligence Unit at the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) cross-checked, we realised that we are up," said Tourism Minister, Aloun Assamba

She was speaking at the launch of 'Irish-fest' by the Sunset Grande Resort and Spa, at the Courtleigh Hotel in New Kingston last Tuesday.

The early indicators largely reflected the lower number of stop over arrivals which ended the month at 124,756 visitors, down 4.5 per cent or 6,000 persons when compared to last year January.

Cruise ship passengers

It was cruise ship passengers which brought the total above last year January. According to the Jamaica Information Service (JIS), those visitors brought the total number up 3.2 per cent. If accurate, it would mean that cruise ship arrivals for the month of January was up 10 per cent or 14,418 persons.

The flat numbers, according to Assamba, should be viewed against the background of a bumper year for tourism during 2006, when just over three million tourists visited the island, 15 per cent higher than in 2005.

"When we make generalisations that the figures are trending down, we have to bear in mind that 2006 was an exceptional year for several reasons, some of which have changed," she pointed out.

But the industry in 2007 is already facing major challenges including the revitalisation of Cancun, a popular resort area in Mexico, which was ravaged by a hurricane in 2005; and the implementation of the US passport initiative, which requires visitorsto hold passports when travelling to the Caribbean.

Assamba also chalked up the flat performance to a later winter season.

"We are used to having winter earlier," added Assamba. "Depending on how cold it is, people make their decision on when to travel, so we did not really start to ramp up with visitors coming in until later, because it was so warm, they did not have to leave the cold."