Jamaican tourism sector records major recovery
Saturday, April 10, 2004
TORONTO, Canada: Jamaica has registered a
major recovery in the tourism sector since the events of September 11, 2001
and it is now on “a strong growth path, having recovered all of the ground
lost in visitor arrivals and foreign exchange earnings,” declared Prime
Minister P.J. Patterson. Speaking in Toronto
at the launch of Air Jamaica’s return to the Canadian skies after a 14-year
break, Mr. Patterson praised the airline for being a “steadfast partner” in
helping to build the island’s economy. He
said that the airline not only brought in more than half of the stopover
visitors annually, but also accounted for more than 70 per cent of air cargo
traffic to the island. “Air Jamaica has forged strategic partnerships with our
business and export sectors and with Jamaican communities overseas and is the
prime air carrier of Jamaica’s agricultural produce to North America.”
“When all the Jamaicans who maintain a constant flow of traffic between their
adopted home and the home of their heart feel like spending a little time on
the Rock, they can now enjoy true Lovebird hospitality all the way home,”
added the Prime Minister. Mr. Patterson also
highlighted Jamaica’s investment arena, noting that billions of dollars of new
investments were being made by investors from Europe, the United States, the
Caribbean, Canada and by Jamaicans who made Canada their home. “This is part
of a new and exciting phase of Jamaica’s development and a direct result of my
Administration’s creative revolution of the productive sector, aimed at
increasing investment opportunities and transforming our society.”
He called on the Jamaicans present to assist in the development of the country
of their birth, emphasizing that they “can stay right here in Canada and
invest in Jamaica.” The Prime Minister said
Jamaica was being positioned as the hub of the Caribbean and Latin America,
“not only for transshipped goods but also for the production of goods and
services directed primarily to the North American market.”
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