Canadians make it Jamaica again and again

For the ninth consecutive year, Jamaica recorded an increase in Canadian visitors in 2012, welcoming 403,200 Canadians. This figure is a jump of 6.4% over 2011 and a steady increase of 38.9% over three years (since 2009). “We are thrilled to report our ninth year of growth in Canadian visitors to Jamaica,”said Philip Rose, regional director of Canada for the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB). “Our efforts to drive demand have been successful thanks to great partnerships with our airline, resort and attractions partners who continuously deliver great Jamaican experiences to visitors. It’s clear Canadians have cultivated a strong relationship with Jamaica which we will continue to foster.”The JTB also credits this continuous increase in visitors to Canadian travel agents. With this in mind, the JTB launched a travel agent specialist program in early 2012, A One Love Rewards Program. To date, more than 6,000 agents have graduated from the program. The program serves as a dedicated training platform for the agent community to become experts on the destination and guides agents through vibrant, picturesque online pages that provide insider knowledge about the island. In addition to learning about Jamaica, agents earn valuable rewards points as they complete the curriculum. Agents can login to the step-by-step instructional web site at http://www.oneloverewards.com . The next phase of the program includes a Jamaica Travel Agent Specialist Store, which can be accessed by graduates of the program. Agents will earn points based on hotel rooms booked to shop for a range of items including accommodations, attraction admission, jewelry, airport transfers, made-in-Jamaica art work, golf, spa offerings and more. The store is scheduled to be launched this month. (http://www.visitjamaica.com)