As has been widely reported over the past 12 hours, Jamaican officials are pushing back against the U.S. State Department's recent decision to advise travelers to reconsider visiting the Caribbean nation.

The State Department issued a level 3 advisory for Jamaica on January 23. The advisory posits that there's a prevalence of violent crimes on the island and alleged frequent sexual assaults, including incidents at all-inclusive resorts. However, the advisory lacked any specific details regarding these claims.

On the heels of this development, various Jamaican authorities, including Audrey Marks, Jamaica's ambassador to the United States, have spoken out and called upon the State Department to retract advisory, calling it inaccurate.

Amid this evolving news story, TravelPulse's Managing Editor for the Caribbean, Brian Major, spoke with Jamaica's Minister of Tourism, the Hon. Edmund Bartlett, to gather the leader's thoughts about the travel warning and the latest developments in the country, including infrastructure improvements. Here's what Bartlett had to say.

Edmund Bartlett, Jamaica��s tourism minister. (Photo by Brian Major).

Q.What is your reaction to the recent U.S. State Department advisory?

The U.S. Department of State routinely issues travel advisories on an ongoing basis. In total, there are more than 200 advisories of varying levels found on the Department of State website, for nearly every major country in the world.

The Level 3 advisory for Jamaica is not new and has been in effect since early 2022. Since that time, Jamaica has welcomed millions of visitors and continues to be one of the most popular destinations in the world.

Q.What steps is the government taking to keep visitors safe?

While the crime rate involving visitors is extremely low at 0.01%, the Jamaican government has set up a special unit within the Jamaica Constabulary Force to handle incidents concerning non-residents and has increased police presence in specific areas of the island as needed, which is already having a positive impact.

It is also important to note that there are very distinctly defined areas within Jamaica that the U.S. travel advisory cites as having risk for crime. The majority of the island��s tourism product remains unaffected. Jamaica remains committed to providing a safe and welcoming environment for visitors and locals alike. ?In fact, Jamaica experienced its lowest crime rate in 22 years with serious crimes decreasing 11% as compared to the previous year.

Q.What sorts of tourism infrastructure improvements has Jamaica made over the past year?

Further to the construction of the Montego Bay bypass road and expected 2024 addition of 2,000 new rooms to our hotel stock with the debuts of the first 1,000 rooms of the 2,000-room Princess Grand Jamaica, the 753-room Riu Palace Aquarelle and the 450-room Unico Hotel in Montego Bay, Jamaica is upgrading our international airports with new retail and dining outlets, expanded customs & immigration halls, shifted to an online C5 customs form for all arriving air passengers and is installing Automated Passport Control kiosks, all designed to improve the airport experience. With $5 billion in tourism investments, the improvements for the sector are fully expected to continue.

Jamaica (Photo Credit: Courtesy Jamaica Tourist Board)

Q.What percentage of Jamaica's visitors come from the U.S.?

Approximately 70 percent of all visitor arrivals to Jamaica are from the U.S., making it our largest source market.

Q.How did Jamaica do in 2023 in terms of visitor arrivals and how is 2024 going?

Jamaica welcomed more than 4 million visitors in 2023 and continues to be one of the most popular destinations in the world. With over 1 million airline seats secured for January -April 2024 from the U.S. alone, we expect to post a record-breaking season with visitor arrivals exceeding 2019 pre-pandemic numbers.

Q.Why do you think Jamaica has proven so popular with U.S. travelers?

In addition to having ��sun, sea and sand,�� a wide variety of accommodations and proximity to the U.S. like most other Caribbean destinations, Jamaica has many more attributes that travelers find appealing which are not necessarily common in other islands and certainly not commonly found on just one.?

For instance, we have the lush Blue Mountains with peaks rising as high as 7,402 feet, underground limestone caverns such as Green Grotto Caves, bamboo river rafting, a glowing bioluminescent lagoon, crystalline waterfalls, and natural pools, and more. In fact, as the birthplace of Jerk spice and reggae music as popularized by our very own Bob Marley, Jamaica��s unique and vibrant culture has influenced the world.

Not to mention the infectious, warm and welcoming Jamaican people, who have hospitality in their DNA! Combined, all of the above makes visitors want to return to Jamaica again and again to the point where we enjoy a whopping 42% repeat visitor rate.

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