GREEN ISLAND, Hanover — For the fifth-consecutive year Lindsey Johnson of Tropics Tours has captured the Jamaica Tourist Board’s (JTB) top-selling travel agent spot.
The prize for 2024 was presented during the 10th staging of the Jamaica Travel Specialists One Love Affair awards ceremony which was held last Saturday at the Platinum Club Convention Centre in the newly opened Princess Grand Jamaica in Hanover.
On the sidelines of the ceremony, Johnson shared her secret of winning consecutively for the past half a decade.
“I work a lot. I am always on call for my clients. [If] they have any problems, I fix it. It is like having another child, which is my work. This is what I love, so I do it all day, every day,” she said.
Johnson said selling Jamaica to her clients is not difficult.
“Part of my job is to take what my clients ask for and give them what it is that they want. But, in a large part, part of that is just supporting Jamaica as a whole. Jamaica is where we love to vacation and it is where we love to travel and so it is easy for me to encourage my clients to Jamaica because it is all we love. So, you sell what you know and we love Jamaica,” she explained.
Johnson, who is from Kentucky in the United States, said winning for the fifth time in a row came as no surprise. She said second-place winner Michelle Wiseman of Toms Tours is her friend and she would have been equally happy if Wiseman had won this year.
Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett congratulated Johnson.
“This is the fifth year in a row for her and that is outstanding. I would not venture to tell you the number, but certainly it is millions of dollars that she has produced by way of room nights and the number of guests into Jamaica,” Bartlett told the Jamaica Observer.
The minister said Jamaica is indebted to Johnson and Tropics for their continued outstanding work.
Johnson was among 50 awardees from the major markets from which Jamaica welcomes visitors — the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, continental Europe, and Central Europe. Jamaica is currently tapping into the South American market, and Bartlett is hoping that travel agents from that part of the world and India will be among those being recognised next year.
The minister said over the past eight years, arrivals from North America have doubled. Canada also came in for special commendation from the minister for outstanding performance over the US which showed marginal growth this year.
“We are anticipating 500,000 visitors from Canada by 2026,” stated an optimistic Bartlett.
He pointed out that the 50 agents honoured last Saturday have allowed Jamaica to continually meet its targets and excel.
“Even this year, with all the disruptions that we had and the unfortunate situations through weather, through travel advisories, [and] through aviation disruptions, we have been able to still hold our own and to come out of the year with a small growth over last year which was our best year ever,” said Bartlett, who noted that this winter and the year 2025 are looking good for future growth.
He said Jamaica is looking towards the prospect of growing the number of employees in the industry and doing more for its employees. He noted that 30 per cent of the country’s GDP is directly attributed to tourism which allows for direct, indirect and induced employment of more than 350,000 or close to 25 per cent of the country’s workforce.