Jamaican Tourist Statistics Part 2
In the first part of this series, we noted the significant difference between types of tourists, notably cruise ship passengers versus over-night visitors and those that are staying at all-inclusive resorts and those that aren't. ReggaeSteem is focused on the tourists staying overnight at the smaller non-all inclusive resorts. This post is a continuation of that post. Here's a link to Part 1 in case you missed it. The data used in this post is from the Jamaican Tourist Board website, https://www.jtbonline.org/report-and-statistics/.
source
Tourism is Jamaica's most important industry and it's growing rapidly. The amount of people who visit Jamaica each year, 4.3 Million is larger than its population of nearly 3 million and tourism is becoming more important to Jamaica each year. Most of the tourism is centered around Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, and Negril; about 1/4 of Jamaica's coastline seems to be developed. The further one gets away from these three areas, the less money one spends per day (by a huge margin). There is great potential for even more tourism.
Annual Travel Statistics Source
Weather events usually account for the increase/decrease in tourism; namely hurricanes and poor weather in certain regions of the Caribbean cause cruise ships to change their plans.
Observations and Opinions
- 88% of over-night tourists stay at all-inclusive resorts
This tells me Jamaica is having a difficult time attracting non-all inclusive tourists, while the number is growing, there is a significant opportunity here. The smaller, non-all inclusive resorts have more capacity available and ReggaeSteem has a goal to help fill these resorts. Noted in part 1, you can eat local food, save money and experience much more while staying off a chain resort. I am not staying at a Mega Resort next week while in Jamaica, I will be staying at two not all-inclusive resorts in Negril.
- There are significantly more American females traveling to Jamaica than males. 57% vs 43%.
While this pattern is also true for Canada and the UK, the ratio is the opposite in Latin America with more males traveling to Jamaica than females. This unusual phenomenon can best be explained in an NSFW article here. While ReggaeSteem doesn't currently offer any packages specifically catering to the needs of these female tourists, I'm sure someone knows someone, who knows someone.
- There are no flights from Asia, Africa, Oceania or the Middle East to Jamaica
While North America, Europe, the Carribean and even parts of Latin America are well connected to Jamaica, the rest of the world is not. Distance and profit likely play a huge role in this. Anyone from these regions would likely have to fly to the UK, Germany, the USA or Canada first. This has a huge impact on tourism from these regions and it shows in the numbers. East Asia specifically is an attractive market as the region is eclipsing even America in wealth and tourism dollars.
- There is an opportunity to reach tourists who aren't being marketed by big companies
The cruise ships and chain hotels bring in the vast majority of guests to Jamaica, the industry is all connected from the airlines to the advertising and marketing departments. They want their people to go to their hotels, spend money on their resorts and bring more loyalty to the brand than Jamaica and it's culture. ReggaeSteem is connecting with people who aren't just trying to find a place on any beach. ReggaeSteem is bringing people to experience the real Jamaica.
Thank you for reading. If you are interested in getting started on ReggaeSteem so you can earn travel rewards and experience the real Jamaica, check out this how to guide
Interesting article and great to see this type of information and conversation being opened up on reggaesteem.
The linked article about sex tourism is also interesting. It's not a new thing, Smile Orange covered it and I'm sure it didn't start in 1976, and it raises a lot of issues. There's quite a lot of discussion in the UK about the sexualisation of black men, especially African and Caribbean men, and how that feeds into detrimental stereotypes. Some black men are starting to speak about their experiences and how it has affected their careers.
Sex is a great thing and a natural human expression but it becomes problematic when its linked with other words like industry and tourism. As you say, there's a strong link between economic disadvantage and exploitation, and overall, it's not a great thing for personal, social and economic well-being.
Leaving aside sex tourism, the number one priority for women travellers is feeling and being safe, and the second is interesting experiences. Being able to travel alone, being able to move around freely without harassment (or fear of harassment), is fundamental:
Source
The other major group of potential women travellers are the baby-boomers - just about the wealthiest generation the UK has seen and one of the largest population groups. These are women who have had successful careers, their children have grown up, the mortgage is paid, their pension is in the bank. More of them are single than previously, they're enjoying better health and have a long life expectancy (incidentally, women tend to be more loyal and provide more repeat business). They have a lot of disposable income.
Attracting these travelling dollars is intimately tied up with how women are portrayed and the stereotypes regularly perpetuated. A big change will be representing women as people in their own right rather than adjuncts and marginal to men. Reggaesteem has already done some great work with much more positive, respectful images of women - @dmilliz's Japanese girls-next-door and @super-irie's mermaids on the beach (I'll look for the post links later) come to mind.
Attracting this group of older women travellers may create some tensions and dilemmas for reggaesteem with some of the focus on younger, aspiring musicians and their fan base. There's going to be some interesting business discussions ahead.
You're insight deserves a permenant article on reggaesteem.com @shanibeer, hopefully you can write an post on this subject. When statistics differ greatly like this, there is always an explanation. I think it's deeper than just a temporary physical relationship.
One a side note, we are working on a set of informal rules here regarding the upvoting of comments. 25 Jahm for in depth thoughtful ones and 5 for quick ones. This one deserves more than 25 in my opinion as it is the exception, where the comment >=to the post in value so we may have to alter these rules.
Dang it’s good to have you back! I think this is a valuable discussion and obviously something that needs to be looked into more especially if RS wants to harness tourism and the associated demographics that are bringing more numbers to the Caribbean region.
I believe this may be the link you’re referring to about supers mermaids on the beach. I was scrolling and was easily able to find it this early am before getting up for work. I leave it in this comment below:
https://www.reggaesteem.io/reggaesteem/@super-irie/negril-jamaica-2007-feature-photo-2
(I unfortunately didn’t have time to search out dmilliz Japanese women)
Nonetheless, Welcome back, shani :-)
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The data speaks for itself, but you do very good studies and draw very good conclusions from what you propose.
I'm sure that everything you're proposing can be used to establish better strategies for the tribe, to materialize what you're saying, to get to the smallest resort and that the
Tourists get to know the Royal Jamaica.
From what I can see, you work with statistics or something related, you're very good at data analysis.
By the way, interesting publication by NSFW, I didn't imagine that this reality was so...REAL.
I'm not criticizing it at all. They are ways of living, each one struggling to subsist with the tools they have he he
I plan on looking at the stats more in-depth later. We need a good understanding of whom to target especially off Steem but the first step is to attract more members and get more original quality content. The statistical analysis will get more real later but for now just its just general conclusions.
NSFW means not safe for work. Meaning you may not want to open that article up and have your colleagues look at what you are reading. It's interesting to note, Jamaica is the top destination in the world for that sort of tourism-it does seem less exploitative than what is going on elsewhere.
Hello cat, your trip is approaching if what you observe through this short journey on the platform is the promotion of the tourism industry in Jamaica in order to fall in love with the tourist of this beautiful land is interesting and very well explained your Post greetings. .
Jamaica has natural wonders to attract the attention of any tourist, be it a woman or a man, the diversity of its nature provides an opportunity for anyone to enjoy an unforgettable vacation, whether within a tin ranch that only provides coffee and bread, everything what must be taken into account to give yourself the pleasure of knowing how beautiful Jamaica is on the outskirts of four walls, excellent information friend @crypticat. I would like to be part of the statistics of visitors to the island. It is a masterpiece.
It’s really an untapped reserve that, as we continue to learn and understand the underlying characteristics and driving forces (namely behaviors, more detailed demographic data, etc.) behind, we will be better equipped to reach these target populations that are of higher interest to ReggaeSteem’s aligning visions.
I’d be interested in doing some more detailed research looking into some of these concerns surrounding why more are staying all inclusive as opposed to staying at places like Rondel Village and Samsara that irie and I have stayed in the past - the real Jamaica as I’m sure you can imagine
There are a lot of statistics to explore and if ReggaeSteem wants to be taken seriously, key members need an expert understanding of the tourism industry. You and your travel history suggests all-Inclusive marketing doesn't work on everyone. It's catered to those who prefer a dream to a reality. The type that wish to stay in a perfect little bubble and get angry when there isn't 8 types of milk available at breakfast.
It's the marketing. The travel agencies, cruiselines, airlines, and resorts have massive budgets. What does Rondel spend on advertising? A millionth of the ann-incs?
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Hi there @crypticat, all set to go? Not a minute too soon, I bet.
Could you tell me which page you got this information from, please? I've not been able to find it. I am working on a very small screen!
Many thanks.