Tourism will be Jamaica's biggest driver of economic growth

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‘Jamaica rocking and rolling’

Optimistic Levy sees growth in local business for Broilers Group

April 2, 2025

Jamaica Broilers Group Limited (JBG) is optimistic about its growth prospects due to increasing demand in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean as the company’s chicken and egg production hits record numbers.

This was the message of JBG Group president and Chief Executive Officer Christopher Levy at a private briefing held last Thursday on the company’s third-quarter (November to January) report. Jamaica is the primary market for JBG which operates several brands such as The Best Dressed Chicken, Reggae Jammin, and Hamilton’s Smokehouse. These brands have continued to expand over the last decade with the company recently introducing new SKUs (stock keeping units) or products such as branded Vienna sausages, nuggets and boneless wings.

“Jamaica is in a very good spot. The area that Jamaica is most competitive in is in tourism. When you look at the growth of tourism, that has a direct impact on us. So, you take a hotel, and a hotel puts up 350 rooms, about two-people occupancy and is running 70 per cent occupancy, there are about 600 to 700 people in a hotel. They run about four people [staff] to a guest. They will have a back office of let’s say 1,000 to 2,000 people,” Levy reasoned.

“That drives our business in the most unbelievable way. The opportunity that is there for us in our local business is incredible. We need to invest and keep growing in Jamaica. While I think that the opportunity for us is in the USA, Jamaica is rocking and rolling.”

https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2025...cking-rolling/

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Jamaica on strong growth path with over 4.5 million visitors forecast for 2025

Jamaica is on track to welcome more than 4.5 million visitors in 2025, with tourism earnings projected to reach US$4.62 billion, continuing the island’s impressive post-pandemic growth trajectory.

Delivering the latest forecast during a presentation at Caribbean Travel Marketplace in Antigua and Barbuda on Tuesday, Philip Rose, deputy director of tourism for the Americas, outlined the island’s robust performance and its strategic focus on community impact.

“In 2024, Jamaica welcomed 2.9 million stopover visitors and 1.2 million cruise passengers,” said Rose. “That number is expected to climb in 2025 to just over three million stopovers and 1.4 million cruise passengers, culminating in total arrivals of 4.5 million.”

By 2026, the country is targeting 3.4 million stopovers, 1.6 million cruise passengers, and earnings of US$5 billion, aligning with Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett’s growth strategy.

“While we celebrate heads in beds and bums in seats, at the core of our efforts is who we do it for, the jerk chicken vendor, the market lady, the bellman. Tourism must benefit our people,” said Rose.

https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/...-forecast-2025

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Jamaica eyes strong summer despite US economic concerns

A noticeable decline in Canadian travellers to the United States is reshaping the region’s tourism flows and Jamaica is poised to be among the key beneficiaries.

With political tensions and shifting travel preferences causing Canadians to bypass the US in favour of the Caribbean and Europe, Jamaica is capitalising on the opportunity with expanded airlift and intensified destination marketing.

According to Statistics Canada, Canadian residents returning from the US by air dropped by 13.5 per cent in March 2025 compared to the previous year, while cross-border travel by road fell by over 30 per cent. As a result, destinations like Jamaica are seeing heightened interest, especially from travellers seeking warm-weather alternatives with robust all-inclusive options.

At the 43rd Caribbean Travel Marketplace hosted at the American University of Antigua, Angella Bennett, Jamaica’s regional director for Canada, and Philip Rose, deputy director of tourism for the Americas, shared updates with The Gleaner on market shifts, airlift growth, and diversification strategies that are already bearing fruit.

Bennett says Jamaica is in a prime position, with Air Canada designating the island its “castle destination,” a label reserved for its most prioritised markets. The country is seeing 17,000 more seats this summer, and an additional 35,000 for winter 2025–26, including new flights out of Ottawa, Halifax, and Quebec City.

“Quebec City service begins December 6. It’s a direct result of years of strategic engagement,” Bennett said, noting that the airline’s redirected aircraft from U.S. routes are now serving Jamaica and the Caribbean.

She added that the Canadian market is seeing consolidation, particularly, with WestJet’s acquisition of Sunwing, but Jamaica continues to enjoy visibility across both brands. “We’re also seeing new luxury-focused partners like OTS entering the space and showcasing our high-end properties,” she said.

https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/...nomic-concerns

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FOOD PRODUCTION, EVENTS TO LEAD GROWTH IN APRIL QUARTER

JAMAICA’S economy is expected to register continued growth when the curtain closes on the current April to June quarter, owing to stronger output across a number of key industries.

The projection by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) is for growth to take place within the range of 0.5 per cent–1.5 per cent, supported by increased outturns from mostly the agriculture, tourism and construction industries.

The agriculture sector,
after suffering significant setbacks from Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Rafael in late 2024, is now showing signs of recovery. PIOJ Director General Dr Wayne Henry indicated that growth in this critical industry is likely to continue, supported by stronger domestic crop yields and a lessened drag on the export crop component, particularly as longer-term crops start to bear fruit.

In the tourism sector, a surge in stopover arrivals — fuelled by events such as Spring Break, the Easter holidays and Jamaica Carnival — is further expected to contribute significantly to overall growth. Additionally, increased construction activity, spurred by the roll-out of major infrastructure projects at the start of the new fiscal year, is also expected to play a key role. These include both residential and non-residential developments as well as the Government’s $45-billion Shared Prosperity Through Accelerated Improvement to Our Road Network (SPARK) programme which has been generating hundreds of new jobs across the island.

Pointing to preliminary data which show a 5.3 per cent increase in airport arrivals for April, the director general said this largely stemmed from the country’s hosting of a number of major entertainment activities which attracted large international patronage. For Carnival, this event alone brought a record surge in foreign arrivals and high economic impact which was said to be at least 10 per cent more than that seen for the previous year. In 2024, the usually well-attended event was estimated to have generated near $100 billion in total economic output.

For the just-concluded staging it was reported that the spillover from capacity in the Corporate Area spread to other parts of the country, such as Ocho Rios, as visitors scrambled to secure accommodations following mass bookings which began from as early as the ISSA/Grace Kennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships in late March and the Glam Slam Track sporting event which took place in early April. (When me seh Tourist no just travel fi sun, sand and sea).

https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2025...april-quarter/