Trending destinations ranked
International travel website Kayak has published a list of the five top trending travel destinations for international tourists, based on Internet searches by travellers planning a trip for January 2019.
The Bahamas was at the top of the list, with a 111-per-cent year-on-year increase in searches for trips, according to Kayak. Florence, Italy was next, with a 73-per-cent increase, followed by Palm Springs in California, US (47 per cent), Cartagena, Colombia (45 per cent) and finally Jamaica (30 per cent).
Jamaican tourism authorities were pleased with the result, saying that it reflects the increasing international appeal of the Caribbean island, and the efforts that have been put into making it an attractive destination for tourists.
“This is an indicator that Jamaica’s tourism remains robust and sought after and we are committed to ensuring that our visitors and locals alike are safe as they enjoy what the island has to offer,” said Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett. “Jamaica is already poised for another record year of growth in arrivals and earnings and I believe that this will only add to our projections. For the first six months of 2018, we recorded a 4.7-per-cent increase in arrivals to bring total arrivals for the period to a record near three million, and by the end of the year earnings are expected to reach US$3.3 billion.”