A masquerader proudly shows a Jamaican flag on the 2025 Carnival in Kingston, Jamaica.
Photograph courtesy the Jamaica Vacationer Board
The Jamaica Vacationer Board (JTB) stated on Tuesday, Could 6, that Jamaica Carnival 2025 shattered earlier information, with the island recording its highest-ever customer arrivals for the annual celebration.
Preliminary information from the Ministry of Tourism point out that between April 22 and April 27, 8,571 guests arrived within the nation, a 15.5 % enhance over the identical interval in 2024.
The ministry stated that complete passenger arrivals climbed to 16,958, representing a 20 % year-over-year enhance.
“These record-breaking numbers translate straight into elevated income for our resorts, eating places, transportation suppliers, and small companies,” stated Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett.
“Carnival has confirmed itself as a strong financial driver, showcasing Jamaica past our seashores and reinforcing our imaginative and prescient to place the island because the Caribbean’s premier vacation spot for world-class cultural experiences,” he added.
JTB stated that whereas closing income figures are nonetheless being tabulated, preliminary projections counsel that Carnival in Jamaica 2025 will considerably surpass the J$4.42 billion (US$27.8 million) in direct financial influence recorded in 2024.
When factoring within the multiplier impact from oblique and induced spending, JTB stated the entire financial contribution can be anticipated to exceed final 12 months’s spectacular J$95.4 billion (US$ $600 million) influence on Jamaica’s financial system.
“These outcomes additional cement carnival’s position as a cornerstone of the nation’s tourism development technique,” JTB stated.
Jamaica’s Director of Tourism, Donovan White, stated: “Carnival in Jamaica 2025 surpassed all expectations and has developed into one of many Caribbean’s premier cultural tourism sights.
“It goes far past the highway march, too, from themed events and stay music to costume design and culinary showcases,” he added. “With demand rising 12 months after 12 months, we’re assured carnival in Jamaica will proceed to ship an immersive cultural expertise that advantages all the financial system.”
Kamal Bankay, chairman of the Tourism Enhancement Fund’s Sports activities and Leisure Community, stated that each one three main bands skilled development, with about 11,000 revelers collaborating, matching projections of 10 % development over 2024.
“This was our greatest 12 months but,” he stated. “Vacationer participation was notably greater, with many first-time guests flying in from throughout the globe to hitch the festivities.”
Bankay additionally pointed to the unprecedented spectator turnout, significantly alongside Trafalgar Highway, which grew to become the most important viewing zone in carnival in Jamaica’s nine-year historical past.
“I’ve by no means seen a spectacle like that,” he stated. “The vitality on the nook of Trafalgar and Knutsford Blv’d. was unmatched, with thrilling model activations and an exciting aerial stunt from Purple Bull that elevated the celebration to new heights.”
JTB additionally famous important enhancements in occasion logistics, stating that, in distinction to 2024, when post-event litter drew public backlash, the clean-up following this 12 months’s highway parade was “swift and efficient.”
“By early Monday morning, streets within the Company Space had been restored, due to the coordinated efforts of the Ministry of Native Authorities and Neighborhood Growth and the Nationwide Strong Waste Administration Authority (NSWMA),” JTB stated.
Bankay praised the Jamaica Constabulary Pressure (JCF) for its vital position in guaranteeing public security and sustaining order all through the occasion.
“Our clean-up companions delivered excellence in a single day, and the JCF deserves large credit score for maintaining each revelers and spectators secure throughout what was a large, high-energy celebration,” he stated.
With one other profitable staging underneath its belt, JTB stated carnival in Jamaica continues to solidify its position as “a strong catalyst for financial development, cultural expression, and tourism growth.”
