ST. JOHN’S, Antigua and Barbuda — AS the region prepares for the 2026 Atlantic Hurricane Season, tourism officials across the Caribbean are redefining what sustainability means in the growing reality of climate change.
Jamaica is now at the forefront of reimagining sustainable tourism as the government and industry stakeholders continue rebuilding the sector following the widespread devastation caused by Category Five Hurricane Melissa last year.
According to Jamaica’s Planning Institute, the hurricane caused an estimated $1.952 trillion (US$12.2 billion) in damage — equivalent to 57 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. The tourism sector alone accounted for US$8.8 billion in losses.
Speaking during a press conference at the 44th Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) Marketplace in Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, said the country is now focused on building resilience and preparing for the future.
“What that told us is now how to build, recognising the global realities of climate change and its impact,” Bartlett said.
He explained that Jamaica is already reconsidering how and where development takes place, particularly in vulnerable coastal communities.
“Some towns that were impacted will be reconsidered. We’ll be building further inland, and the oceanfront will be dedicated exclusively to tourist activities,” he stated.
Bartlett also outlined plans for a new maritime tourism experience in northwestern Jamaica, near the Palladium Hotel, as part of a broader strategy to diversify and strengthen the tourism product.
“That will become the maritime destination of Jamaica,” he said. “We’re going to be making a stronger pivot to luxury tourism, with a focus on the northeastern part of the island.”
Port Antonio, he added, is expected to become a major hub for that luxury tourism push, while a new airport is also planned for Vernon Field in the centre of the island.
“We will be building out a number of other ports, so that Jamaica could become an itinerary of its own, with multiple port stops,” Bartlett said. “Connectivity from all our ports of entry to resort areas will be within an hour or an hour and a half.”
The minister said infrastructure improvements are also intended to reduce transportation bottlenecks and create smoother movement across the island.
“As we speak about the 15,000 to 20,000 new rooms, the carrying capacity to enable that will be built fully in Jamaica. It will make us a fully sustainable destination,” he added.
Bartlett was asked by SKNVibes News at the conference what lessons other Caribbean countries could learn from Jamaica’s experience with resilience and sustainability.
“My word to our colleagues is that we have to build the capacity for resilience. Resilience doesn’t happen because we wish it,” he said.
He emphasized the need for stronger institutional support, public education, policies, and enforcement systems to properly prepare countries for future climate-related disasters. “We have to educate our people around this. We have to first define for people what resilience is, and then build a knowledge base around it that can be converted into meaningful and practical applications,” Bartlett explained.
He pointed to Jamaica’s environmental and regulatory agencies as examples of how governments must strengthen systems tied to building standards and environmental management.
“We also have to invest hard dollars, good capital, in the way we build and in the way our building authorities offer approvals for construction,” he added.
Bartlett said Jamaica’s response following Hurricane Melissa demonstrated the country’s preparedness and resilience. “We had 25,000 tourists on island during that hurricane. We lost none. There was no injury, and we repatriated all 25,000 within the first week after the hurricane,” he said.
The minister noted that within six weeks after the storm, Jamaica was once again welcoming visitors. Six months later, he said, the country had already recovered 80 percent of its tourism capacity and welcomed more than one million visitors back to the island.
Bartlett also addressed the wider geopolitical and economic challenges impacting tourism globally, particularly rising oil prices and airline instability.
“The price of oil has already impacted aviation in all states,” he said. “There is going to be a real challenge for long-haul travel if there isn’t a change in the geopolitical trajectory at the moment.”
He acknowledged difficulties facing several low-cost airlines, including those operating within the Caribbean, warning that higher travel costs could affect regional tourism growth.
“So we have to build capacity to future-proof our generation and have concerted dialogue with our airline partners,” Bartlett said. “More importantly, we have to be innovative and look at how we can collaborate and work together to share the pain and burden of this moment.”
Despite the challenges, Bartlett maintained that tourism remains a powerful force for global stability. “Tourism means peace,” he said. “And we are the most important agents of peace on planet Earth.”
