TORONTO, Canada (CMC):

Despite the global economic crisis, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says record numbers of Canadian visitors are expected in Jamaica this winter season.

"Canada is our fastest-growing market," the Jamaica Information Service quoted Bartlett as saying here.

"Two years ago, the Canadian market was providing around 150,000 Canadian stopover visitors and, for this year, we're looking at close to 300,000, which represents a 28 per cent increase over last year," he added.

Bartlett recently visited Canada to thank travel partners for helping to make the North American country the fastest-growing market for Jamaica.

He met with some 200 travel agents, airline officials and tour operators in Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg, some of the Canadian cities which have shown strong growth in recent times.

Contributing factors to tourist hike

Highlighting several factors, which have contributed to this success, Bartlett referred to the "new and exciting" accommodations in the marketplace, the "aggressive marketing" by the hoteliers and the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) and the increase in airlift from Canada.

He said there are, currently, close to 180,000 available airline seats from Canada to Jamaica, with an expected increase this year of 20,000, mainly from the western provinces of Canada.

For the upcoming winter tourist season, which officially starts December 15, Bartlett said there will be additional direct flights from Winnipeg, Vancouver and Calgary into Montego Bay.

"We're satisfied with the infrastructure that is in place and we're relying on Canada to be the bedrock of the growth projections for next year," he said.

Bartlett was accompanied on his trip by John Lynch, JTB's chairman and director of tourism; Lionel Reid, executive director of Jamaica Vacations; and Sandra Scott, the JTB's regional director for Canada.