Bartlett projects 88 per cent tourism recovery by December

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says Jamaica is on track to recover 88 per cent of its hotel-room capacity by December, despite delays in insurance payouts and supply-chain challenges following Hurricane Melissa.

Speaking with reporters in Montego Bay on Sunday, Bartlett said the country would enter the winter tourism season with approximately 3,000 rooms still out of operation, with full recovery now projected for May 2027.

“If the payout period was in line with our recovery activities, for sure tourism would have been closer to 90 per cent ending the year,” Bartlett said, blaming delayed insurance payments for slowing reconstruction.

He projected that room capacity could recover to between 95 and 96 per cent by the end of the first quarter of 2027.

Despite the setbacks, Bartlett said Jamaica’s airlift recovery remained strong, with 1.3 million airline seats projected for the winter season, 23 per cent above 2025 levels.

The projection includes 400,000 seats from Canada and 900,000 from the United States.

Bartlett also disclosed plans to establish a tourism resilience fund incorporating parametric insurance to help the sector recover more quickly from future disasters.

He said discussions were under way with multilateral institutions, including the Inter-American Development Bank, to advance the initiative.

Bartlett said Jamaica must rebuild “properly and better, and definitely more resilient” as it works to restore its tourism product.

- Albert Ferguson

Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.