Up to a third of tourists arriving in Jamaica last year used accommodations in the sharing economy more commonly associated with Airbnbs, according to tourism minister Edmund Bartlett.

Bartlett made the revelation in a recent Jamaica Observer Business Forum.

“Thirty-one per cent of the visitors to Jamaica in 2023 used the sharing economy or Airbnb,” Bartlett said in response to queries from Business Observer reporters.

“That means one in three of the visitors that came last year,” he noted.

Jamaica welcomed 4.1 million visitors in 2o23. The figure means that more than 1.2 million people rented accommodations in an Airbnb. Bartlett said the growth in Airbnb accommodations and the number of visitors using them is having no impact on traditional bookings.

“That’s because the growth has been so strong. If we did not grow, if the market was not growing how it is growing, then it would have an impact, because what you would have is that you would be taking from the traditional accommodation sector to satisfy this new model that has emerged. But both are growing. Airbnb is growing strong but the traditional hotel accommodation is equally growing strong,” Bartlett continued.

But he said he doesn’t believe that the sharing economy sector can grow beyond the level it is now at.

“The capacity will not be here for that because very soon you could find issues of overtourism creeping in, where natives are going to be unhappy because capacity does not exist. In other words, there are so many back rooms in the town. There are only so many apartments that you have, and people are wanting their privacy, people are also wanting their space. People are also wanting to live their lives without what they call intrusion or being imposed on by any other experience. So all of that has to create the balance and that balance is going to dictate how the market behaves.”

“In other words, there is no fear that Airbnb or the sharing economy will overtake traditional accommodation because people travel for various reasons and their passion points differ, so there is a product for everybody’s need. And the vast majority of people who travel in the world, they don’t want to be your back room; they want to be in a luxurious setting and they want to be catered to and they want to just let down their hair and be. But there are a number of people who don’t mind coming, and of course we must provide for them. There are some guys who come with a knapsack and they don’t even want to sleep in your bed; they just want something to cover their heads.”

“The other thing is that care has to be taken in how these non-traditional areas that are not structured and planned grow, because it can have implications on your destination’s integrity. It is important that you know where people are going, what type of services they getting, the quality of the service they getting, because the destination abilities and your destination reputation is important to protect.”

He said the issues raised should not suggest that the Government is aiming to increase regulation on the sector to observe certain standards because that is already done by the Airbnb platform that onboards properties and ensures they are complying with quality control standards.

“We want to avoid the fear that people have that the sharing economy is going to force fiscal action. It doesn’t, because tourism is about consumption and consumption drives revenues. So, I can get revenue from anywhere as long as you are consuming. If you drink a cup of coffee, I get revenue from it. If you buy a pair of shoes, I get revenue from it. If you take the taxi, I get revenue, if you buy gas, I get revenue from it.”