Eastern European tourists no longer need visa to visit Jamaica

Eastern European tourists no longer need visa to visit Jamaica

Xinhua

KINGSTON– Jamaica has made it easier for citizens of several Eastern European countries to travel to the island country by removing visa requirements to boost tourist arrivals from emerging markets.

Citizens from Russia, the Chez Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine will no longer require a visa to travel to Jamaica for tourism or cultural exchanges for periods not exceeding 30 days, a statement released by the Ministry of tourism said Monday.

Minister of Tourism Wykeham McNeill described the measure as “a positive headway towards removing barriers to travel while creating ease of access to visitors from these new and emerging market frontiers Jamaica is so aggressively forging into.”

McNeill also disclosed that a decision had been made to extend indefinitely the visa waiver for citizens from Columbia, Panama, and Venezuela, which have all been identified as emerging markets in Latin America for growing Jamaica tourist numbers.

However, he said the extension would be subjected to periodic reviews.

“The continued removal of the barriers to travel, such as improving the visa regimes, is all a part of our strategy to diversify our markets while improving airlift security. These initiatives will certainly work towards boosting our visitor arrivals,” the minister said.

Jamaica is expecting the growth in visitor arrivals out of Latin American to continue with Copa Airlines doubling the number of weekly flights to the tropical island to four, using a larger aircraft.

Furthermore, a partnership between the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) and Copa Airlines on a number of joint promotional activities is expected to result in even more visitors coming to the island country.

Tourist arrivals peaked at a record 3.3 million in 2012, up 7.4 percent year-on-year, according to data from the JTB.

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Jamaica

Population: 2,889,187 (July 2012 est.)