Bartlett hails strong tourism rebound
Jamaica earns $77b two months after Melissa
Published:Wednesday | December 31, 2025 | 12:10 AMJanet Silvera/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
As 2025 draws to a close, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says Jamaica’s tourism sector is staging a strong and confidence-boosting recovery just weeks after the island was battered by Hurricane Melissa.
Two months after the storm, Jamaica has welcomed approximately 444,000 visitors, generating US$474 million (J$76.7 billion) in tourism earnings. The total includes 193,000 cruise ship passengers and 251,000 stopover visitors, underscoring the destination’s resilience and the rapid rebound of demand.
Speaking with The Gleaner on Tuesday, Bartlett described the recovery as “fantastic”, crediting the coordinated efforts of government agencies, tourism stakeholders, and front-line workers.
“Within six to eight weeks, we are now at 80 per cent of our arrivals for the period, with 71 per cent of our tourism assets active,” Bartlett said. “It is a tremendous statement of confidence by the market that we could record close to 445,000 visitors in that short space of time and earn US$474 million for the Jamaican economy.”
The United States continues to dominate as Jamaica’s largest source market, with Canada, the United Kingdom, and South America supporting the rebound. Bartlett noted that South America, in particular, has surged, posting a 77 per cent increase over last year.
He attributed the recovery to aggressive destination marketing by the Jamaica Tourist Board, swift engagement with tour operators and travel agents, and the rapid mobilisation of a post-hurricane recovery task force.
Bartlett said the rebound was made possible by an unprecedented, whole-of-government approach led by Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness, with key support from several ministries.
“All the moving parts came together to bring back the product as fast as we could,” he said, adding that the collaboration sent a powerful signal of confidence to global markets.
Looking ahead, the minister said Jamaica expects nearly 90 per cent of room stock to be back in operation in early 2026, with the full impact of destination marketing expected to be realised in the first quarter.
INTENSIFYING MARKETING
As part of that push, Bartlett said his team would intensify marketing missions to South America, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, while also opening engagement with a new market in India. Jamaica will also meet with international investors at FITUR in Madrid, Spain, in January to further strengthen the recovery.
“Our goal is not just to return to pre-Melissa levels,” Bartlett said, “but like post-COVID, to excel beyond those numbers and deepen the economic recovery.”
Bartlett also pointed to major investments aimed at protecting and empowering tourism workers, describing the current rebound as a V-shaped recovery anchored by labour reform.
More than J$2 billion has been made available for care packages and housing support for tourism workers, including over J$600 million in government grants to repair roofs and replace homes destroyed by the hurricane. The minister highlighted ongoing initiatives in training, certification, pensions, health coverage, and housing as part of a broader effort to “future-proof” Jamaica’s tourism ecosystem.
“We are reimagining the labour market in tourism,” Bartlett said. “This is a new game as we move into 2026, one that places workers more deeply into the growth and development of the industry and strengthens Jamaica’s economy for the long term.”