The island is poised to bump Barbados off the top spot, either when 2015 figures are confirmed next month or soon afterwards in 2016.

Investment by Tui has been key to the island’s growth in the past few years, as the operator has made Jamaica a focus in the region along with Mexico.

Figures for 2014 showed that Jamaica, with 177,000 UK arrivals, was just short of Barbados’s total of 186,000, while numbers continued to increase throughout 2015.

“We were already at 179,000 at the end of November,” said Elizabeth Fox, Jamaica Tourist Board’s UK and Northern Europe regional director.

“My goal is to hit 200,000, which we have never done from the UK before,” she added.

Jamaica is awaiting its December figures, but admitted that achieving 23,000 UK sales in the month –­ which would see it hit the 200,000 annual figure – was a challenge.

However, Fox added that Jamaica would hit the 200,000 target “next year, if not this.”