Jamaica Will Host 1.4 Million Cruise Visitors in 2014

Jamaica expects to host 1.4 million cruise ship passengers in 2014, the country?s highest-ever total, said Dr. Wykeham McNeill, minister of tourism and entertainment. The expected total is based on scheduled cruise ship visits for 2014, said McNeill in?an address last week?to Jamaica?s parliament.

Disney Cruise Line ships will call at the island?s Falmouth port for the first time in 2014, said McNeill, while the Ocho Rios cruise port will receive new service from Norwegian Cruise Line and expanded port calls from Royal Caribbean International ships. Meanwhile, several cruise lines will homeport ships at the Montego Bay cruise facility.

Jamaica?s cruise ship arrivals increased by 17.3 per cent in 2012 versus 2013, said McNeill, but are expected to end 2013 ?marginally down,? he said.

?But, we have to view this in the context of two phenomenal years of growth after the opening of the Falmouth pier,? said McNeill. The Falmouth cruise facility opened in 2011and quickly surpassed Ocho Rios as Jamaica?s top cruise port, accounting for nearly half of all cruise ship visitors to Jamaica.

?I have every confidence that the tourism sector will meet the expectations we are placing on it, as the path ahead continues to offer promise of further growth, and destination Jamaica retains its international competitive edge,? McNeill said.