Jamaica’s hotel sector is reaping the rewards of an event-packed start to the year, with Kingston now at full capacity for Carnival and spillover demand stretching into Ocho Rios, St Ann.

Industry leaders say the back-to-back staging of major events — including the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships, Grand Slam Track, and now Carnival — has kept hotels across the capital and north coast humming with activity, signalling a robust rebound for urban tourism.

Robin Russell, president of Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), said the Carnival effect is not limited to the Corporate Area.

“Everything in Kingston is booked, and people are staying as far as Ocho Rios and coming over,” he told the Jamaica Observer. “All the traditional hotels are full. I’m getting reports that all the homestay rooms have also been taken up.”

That perspective was echoed by Christopher Jarrett, chairman of the JHTA Kingston Chapter and managing director of Altamont Court Hotel, who confirmed that local hotels are once again operating at full capacity for Carnival. Checks by the Sunday Observer on popular booking websites such as Airbnb.com also showed no available rooms in Kingston up to May 3.

The visitor boom is also benefiting the rental car industry as all of the major firms — most notably Island, Avis, Enterprise, Alamo, National, and Budget — are reporting that they have no vehicles available for this weekend. In fact, most of them told the Sunday Observer that they have been experiencing full bookings since the start of the annual Spring Break holidays, which run between early March and mid-April. The fact that Easter falls within that period has also contributed to the increase in business.

“We have no vehicles available now. In fact, I have a number of potential customers in front of me now and I am trying to see how best I can accommodate them,” a representative at Budget told the Sunday Observer early Saturday afternoon.

Carnival season in Jamaica typically kicks off in the week following Easter, but pre-Carnival events and celebrations often begin as early as February. The official Carnival season, including major events like Road March, runs from April 23 to April 29.

“It’s nothing new for Kingston to be full during this period, but what we’re seeing now is just how early people are booking,” Jarrett said. “Some guests locked in their rooms from last year as they were checking out. This year, we’re even getting calls from people we can’t accommodate.”

Kingston has at minimum 1,512 hotel rooms, while Ocho Rios has a hotel room capacity of more than 5,700.

While formal hotel rooms are maxed out, peer-to-peer accommodations like Airbnb continue to absorb demand, albeit amid ongoing concerns about regulatory oversight.

“What we’ve found is that the Airbnb purveyors have been picking up some of the room availability in Kingston… whatever the capacity is that Kingston would normally not be able to fill, we think the Airbnb has taken it up,” Jarrett said.

He added that bookings have surged in upscale residential neighbourhoods like Cherry Garden and Russell Heights, as visitors look beyond hotels for available accommodations.

“I know of individuals who have booked Airbnb stays in areas like Russell Heights… that gives you a sense of how much the demand has spilled over,” Jarrett said.

The surge in bookings coincides with the release of a landmark economic impact study commissioned by the Tourism Enhancement Fund, which found that Carnival in Jamaica generated a staggering $95.4 billion in total economic output in 2024 — a return that validates years of anecdotal claims from within the sector.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett said the results show that Carnival is now firmly part of Jamaica’s tourism strategy.

“For every dollar spent on Carnival, Jamaica sees a return of $130. That’s massive,” Bartlett said recently, noting that the event supported more than 115,000 full-time equivalent jobs and generated $19.14 billion in income for workers and businesses.

According to the study conducted by The University of the West Indies, some 5,400 international visitors came to Jamaica specifically for Carnival last year, spending an average of US$3,209 per person. Local participation was also significant, with an estimated 7,400 Jamaicans spending nearly $253,000 each on costumes, beauty services, fitness, transportation, and entertainment — pumping an additional $1.73 billion into the economy.

But Bartlett and other officials say Carnival’s true economic footprint extends beyond just one weekend.

“It’s not just a road march,” he said. “Carnival has evolved into a season, and what we’re seeing now is a complete calendar of events across Kingston and beyond that keeps people coming.”

Indeed, the run-up to Carnival has been particularly lucrative for hoteliers and event planners due to an uninterrupted wave of large-scale activities.

“This month has been really good for Kingston hotels,” Jarrett said. “We had Champs, then Grand Slam, and now Carnival. It’s been a packed season, and we’re definitely seeing the benefit from having all these events lined up back to back.”

Russell added that the spike in bookings, especially among homestays and properties beyond the capital, reflects growing demand and Jamaica’s strengthening profile as an entertainment destination.

“Kingston is very much full for the Carnival season,” he said. “It looks more buoyant than in years before. We’re coming off COVID, and now you’re seeing the benefits of all the promotion and build-up. It has paid off.”

With this momentum in play, Bartlett is already looking ahead and expectations are high for another record-breaking year in tourism.

“The numbers are clear,” Bartlett said. “Carnival is not just a celebration of culture. It’s one of our strongest economic assets, and we’re only just getting started.”

In this file photo revellers enjoying Jamaica Carnival road march.