More visitors to Jamaica using hotel alternatives like Airbnb

 

Jamaica is seeing an increase in tourists using "non-hotel" accommodation options such as Airbnb.

 

Speaking at the launch of the Bengal Cove Development in St. Ann, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett said the new sub-accommodation industry has increased the earning potential for more Jamaicans in the tourism value chain. 

 

"Last year, 29 per cent of the 2.6 million stopover visitors that came to Jamaica were in the shared economy, otherwise called Airbnb," Mr. Bartlett annnounced, adding that he would save the dollar figure for his upcoming budget presentation. 

 

"What that means is the democratisation of the accommodations sub-sector. It means a large swath of Jamaican people with little homes, big homes, apartments, villas are now inserted in the tourism value chain, broadening, therefore, the range of participants in the industry, but more importantly, providing slices of this pie for a larger number of Jamaican people," he pointed out.  

 

Bengal Cove Villas is a new luxury development on the North Coast with 15 units, including five villas, six semi-detached units and penthouses.