Purkiss Says Jamaica Cruise Arrivals Lag Pre-Pandemic Levels As Bahamas Surges

Opposition Spokesperson on Tourism and Linkages Andrea Purkiss says Jamaica’s cruise business is still 28.4 per cent below its pre-COVID position, leaving about 438,000 cruise visitors absent from the island’s ports even as the wider Caribbean enjoys record activity and The Bahamas almost doubles its 2019 numbers.

Purkiss made the claim on Tuesday while delivering her first sectoral presentation in Parliament. She argued that the shortfall has carried a heavy cost for local tourism interests. “Based on a conservative estimate of just USD 10 per guest, the Government’s failure to reclaim Jamaica’s pre-pandemic cruise market share has cost tourism practitioners in excess of USD 30 million, equivalent to J$4.5 billion in lost economic activity.”

Setting Jamaica beside its regional competitors, Purkiss said the island received 1,544,233 cruise passengers in 2019, but that total had slipped to 1,106,361 by the end of 2025. Over that same period, she cited the State of the Global Cruise Industry Report as showing worldwide cruise passenger volume reaching a record 37.2 million, or 25.2 per cent above 2019 levels.

The Caribbean, according to the figures she presented, accounted for 44 per cent of global cruise traffic. Antigua posted 9.9 per cent growth after finishing a new terminal, while The Bahamas moved from 5.4 million cruise arrivals in 2019 to 10.6 million in 2025, a 96.2 per cent jump.

“The Bahamas grew by nearly one hundred per cent. Jamaica shrank by twenty-eight per cent. This is not a regional problem. It is a local management failure. When 438,000 passengers fail to arrive, it is not the foreign hotel owner who bleeds. It is our JUTA and JCAL drivers sitting in empty car parks. It is our craft vendors in Ocho Rios and Falmouth going days without a single sale. The Minister has not once explained this to Parliament or to those workers,” Purkiss said.

Purkiss urged the Tourism Minister to tell Parliament what steps have been taken to stop the decline in cruise arrivals, what port investments are being planned to help Jamaica compete with other destinations, and what measurable goals the Government has set for rebuilding and expanding the sector.