MONTEGO BAY, St James — Thousands of visitors are expected to start making their way out of Jamaica today after participating in what stakeholders are calling the biggest Carnival in Jamaica’s history.

‘Carnival in Jamaica’ 2018, spearheaded by Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett’s Entertainment Network of the Tourism Linkages Council in the Ministry of Tourism, in conjunction with the Olivia Babsy Grange-led Ministry of Entertainment and several private sector stakeholders, including Bacchanal Jamaica, Xodus and Xaymaca, brought record turnouts at a series of events culminating in Carnival Sunday’s road marches yesterday.

“This is the second year running with this initiative and its success is absolutely remarkable. Brand Jamaica and Kingston is being effectively positioned as a preferred carnival destination. The multiplier effect is significant as the many tourists and Diaspora visitors have resulted in overbooked hotels, Airbnb and many other houses and apartments that have been rented. Many taxis, restaurants, street vendors, bars, party equipment rental companies, venues and scores of other suppliers of goods and services have benefitted from the record turnouts. A lot of money is circulating. This is what our linkages push is all about,” Tourism Minister Bartlett beamed.

The ‘Carnival in Jamaica’ initiative, among other things, aims to bolster efforts to market Jamaica as a diverse entertainment destination. It incorporated all carnival activities during the peak period of March 31 to April 8, 2018, with the intention of making it a national product.

Senior Advisor/strategist in the Tourism Ministry, Delano Seiveright, pointed out that “flights in and out of Kingston to Florida and the Caribbean are solidly booked, with many persons unable to leave today even out of Montego Bay”.

Seiveright also addressed complaints about limited accommodations in the city of Kingston.

“There will be at least three new hotels opening within the next 20 months bringing on stream over 550 new rooms and on top of that there is an increasing number of Airbnb and related lodging popping up all over the city, many of which were fully utilised during Carnival activities and for which we are getting very positive reviews,” Seiveright told the Jamaica Observer.

He expressed that reports indicate that many visiting Carnival revellers were accommodated in hotels and other lodgings as far as Trelawny.

Seiveright added that the toll road linking Ocho Rios and Kingston, cutting travel time in half, has been lauded by revellers who were able to easily commute between city activities and those on the north coast.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Sports and Entertainment Network of the Tourism Linkages Council Kamal Bankay, noted, “2018 is our biggest year ever in terms of numbers of fetes and revellers on the road for the parade and 2017 was the biggest before this.”

Bankay, who is also a director of Xodus Carnival, further noted, “Carnival in Jamaica is a true global event that we can be proud of this year and many years to come.”

Meanwhile, CEO of Downsound Entertainment, Joe Bogdanovich, who recently added soca to his repertoire by minting a partnership with Bacchanal Jamaica for 2018, stated that, “every party celebrating Carnival 2018 in the last week was packed”.

“It’s good to see soca as another contributing force to the Caribbean musical landscape,” he said.

Andrew Bellamy, a director of Xaymaca International, was stunned by the influx of visitors.

“Without a doubt Carnival in Jamaica 2018 is the largest staging I have ever witnessed in the past 15 years. Never before have I seen so many Carnival chasers, tourists, regional influencers in Jamaica for our Carnival week festivities, which tells me that local Carnival industry players are on the verge of making a huge dynamic shift in the Carnival industry. Clearly Jamaica is now in top rankings of must attend carnivals,” Bellamy stated.

Carnival in Jamaica 2018 officials noted that many revellers from Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Antigua, St Kitts, Grenada, St Lucia, Guyana, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and elsewhere participated in the festivities, which numbered more than 25 events.

Another leading Carnival in Jamaica 2018 official, businessman Michael Ammar Jr, a director of Bacchanal Jamaica, noted: “This Carnival week in Jamaica has been the biggest and best ever. Bacchanal J’ouvert was fully sold out and fantastic.”

Meanwhile, Minister Bartlett intends to transform the island’s tourism sector and has implemented a ‘5x5x5’ growth plan to attract five million visitors by 2021; generate $5 billion in tourism earnings; increase the total direct jobs to 125,000 and add 15,000 new hotel rooms.

— Horace Hines