The Caribbean nation welcomed more than 200,000 British and Irish tourists between January and December 2015 – a rise of 12.2% compared with the previous year.

Elizabeth Fox, Jamaica Tourist Board’s UK and Ireland regional director credited the rise to the “variety and quality,” of hotels and resorts available, with AM, Blue Diamond and Palace Resorts each having properties scheduled to open on the island in the coming year.

“I think it’s the variety and quality of our hotels and resorts that attracts people here and I think that’s really helped us and brought on this increase” Fox said.

State-side resort owner, AM already operates two Secrets-branded all-inclusive resorts in Jamaica, and added a family-friendly Sunscape resort last year, which Fox said would be a big attraction. Further expansion is now planned by AM, featuring the Breathless and Zoetry brands, which are set to welcome holidaymakers at the end of the year.

Meanwhile, competitor Palace Resorts has proved popular with Brits at its five-star Moon Palace Jamaica Grande complex – with Jamaica the only country where the operator has a property outside Mexico.

Fox is now optimistic that more airlines will look to increase their capacity to the island.

“One of our main aims is getting more airlines to fly to Jamaica,” she told TTG. “We’re hopeful Thomson will start offering seven flights a week from next year and that Virgin and BA will also up their numbers.”

“It’s a result of a lot of hard work from our team as we don’t have the budgets that some of the big boys do," she added.