KINGSTON, Jamaica–Jamaica welcomed just over one million stopover visitors, along with 664,000 cruise passengers up to May 2026, according to the Ministry of Tourism.

Speaking during the 2026/27 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Portfolio Minister Edmund Bartlett noted that these out-turns were achieved with only 70 per cent of the tourism inventory available following Hurricane Melissa.

He noted that, in the wake of the hurricane, the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) responded swiftly to recalibrate its strategy for the sector.

“We went back into the market with urgency and purpose, reigniting destination marketing and advertising across all major source markets – the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Latin America. Working with major integrated booking partners, we acted to stimulate demand, protect market share, reassure the travel trade, and convert confidence in Jamaica into bookings,” Bartlett said.

“This is the new discipline of tourism recovery – move early, protect confidence, defend market share, and position destination for renewed growth. The strength of Brand Jamaica is also visible in the airlift data,” he added.

The minister noted that in 2025, Jamaica’s two major international airports accommodated 3.9 million air seats, resulting in 3.1 million passenger arrivals and achieving an overall load factor of 80.6 per cent.

“That piece of statistics is important… because even though the airlines were not coming in the profusion that was before the hurricane, they were all coming full, which meant they were leaving passengers behind. So while capacity constraints remain real, the recovery is moving with purpose,” he stated.

As of mid-April 2026, Jamaica’s hotel sector was projected to rebound strongly, with capacity expected to recover to more than 80 per cent by the summer.

“Meaning… more hotels are now going to be open starting in July, in August, September, October… and by December, we’ll be somewhere about 95 per cent. For the first quarter of 2027, we will be 100 per cent restored in terms of our inventory,” Bartlett stated, adding that some 80,000 hotel workers have since returned to work.

In 2025, Jamaica welcomed 3.7 million visitors, comprising 2.6 million stopover arrivals and 1.1 million cruise passengers.

Gross foreign exchange earnings for the year were estimated at US$4 billion.

-JIS