Jamaica is set to experience a record-breaking year in tourism. The nation is seeing growth rates at more than five percent in both tourist earnings and number of visitor arrivals. The Ministry of Tourism announced that between January and October of 2016, Jamaica had earnings totaling US$2 billion, an increase of 5.7 percent over the earnings of the same period in 2015. There was also an increase of 5.1 percent in visitor arrivals in 2016 compared with 2015. The increases in both earnings and arrivals occurred despite the loss of more than 8,000 visitors during Hurricane Matthew. According to Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism, the figures from the Jamaica Tourist Board indicate the strength of the island’s tourism product. In the first ten months of 2016, stopover arrivals rose by 2.3 percent over 2015 totals, and cruise arrivals were up 9.1 percent over 2015.