How Local Travel Influencers Could Revive Jamaica’s US$3.3 Billion Tourism Industry

By Franz Weathers

Last year, the country had record arrivals of 4.32 million visitors with earnings of US$3.3 billion. Jamaica’s tourism has been growing consistently at an average of 4% annually and it was anticipated that the annual growth rate would be in excess of 5% by this year. Of course, the entire industry has seen a sharp and almost fatal halt because of the global COVID-19 virus.

Due to the obvious importance of tourism to Jamaica’s economy, there have been quite a few initiatives that are being employed to help resuscitate the industry. One way I believe this could be achieved is through innovation and community-based tourism, powered by social media travel influencers.

Targeting Millenials

If I were to target any demographic when it comes to travel, it would be Millenials (18yr-34yr) and here’s why:

• Young people ages 18 to 34 are most likely to spend more money on vacations than other age groups. 33% of polled millennials are willing to spend US$5,000 or more on vacations.
• Millennials are also the generation that travels the most: 35 days a year. But Gen Z (5yr-25yr) isn’t far behind. They take 29 days a year.
• Almost 90% say their planning and inspiration comes from social networks like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat.

So, 90% of Millenials choose where to travel to based on inspiration from social media and Instagram just happens to be one of the most powerful tools for travel, as 70% of Instagram’s content is travel related. Lastly, 60% of millennial travelers are on Instagram.

This video will explain how tourism boards, hotels and other travel entities are using influencer powered campaigns to drive tourism:

Jamaican Travel Influencers

I’ve been a fan of travel vlogger Mark Weins for a few years now, he travels the world in search of local cuisines that he documents and posts to his YouTube channel. He has almost 8 million subscribers across his YouTube and Instagram accounts. I’ve also always wondered if he would be open to coming to Jamaica and if so what that would look like. I recently got my wish, he apparently connected with local Jamaican food bloggers @JamaicaFoodBoss and @RasKitchenTV and did an exciting and fulfilling food tour across Jamaica where he then posted several videos, one of which since April has already garnered over 3 million views, see below:

What if there was an initiative or platform that was designed specifically for local/regional travel influencers where they could sell bookable tours of the same experiences they’re blogging about? Do you believe this would help tourism?