Elizabeth Fox, Jamaica Tourist Board’s regional director UK and Northern Europe revealed the news to TTG. “We are doing amazingly well from the UK and it’s outperforming other European markets to Jamaica,” she said.

“We’re on course to beat Barbados for the first time but we won’t know that for sure until the end of the year.

“We have seen numbers going up consistently from the UK in the last two years as we started coming out of the recession.”

Jamaica recorded double-digit increases in UK arrivals for six of the first seven months of 2015 including rises of 31% in February and 41% in March.

The country is also highlighting the high level of hotel development on the island which includes new properties such as Moon Palace, Melia Braco Village and Marriott Courtyard in Kingston, as well as two upcoming AMResorts: Zoetry and Sunscape in Montego Bay.

“We have a lot of diverse product when it comes to accommodation,” said Fox. “There’s something for everybody including B&B, all-inclusives and luxury resorts. We also have new hotel brands coming to Jamaica.”

The tourist board will be marking its 60th anniversary at WTM with a video playing on its stand showing a selection of Jamaica’s adverts and posters from down the years.

JTB has also put together a list of 60 iconic songs from Jamaican musicians including Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff and Shaggy.