Jamaica suffers single biggest decline in stopover arrivals in Q1 of 2026

Lingering effects of Hurricane Melissa but destination showing remarkable comeback

Durrant Pate/ Contributor

Jamaica’s tourism numbers are not looking as glowing as initially thought, with the latest regional numbers from the Caribbean Tourism Organisation showing stopover arrivals are down 27.5% in the first quarter of 2026.

In fact, this is the largest single decline of any destination in the Caribbean during the period. Overall, the destination reported 534,652 stayover arrivals in the period, driven in large part by Hurricane Melissa.

Jamaica is still working to restore its tourism performance from the impact of Hurricane Melissa, which struck the island on October 28 last year, with the destination still feeling the lingering effects and reduced hotel room inventory. However, Jamaica has shown a remarkable comeback with the return of tourism infrastructure and the reopening of most hotels on the island.

Looking at the data

The data notes that stayover tourist arrivals are distinct from cruise passenger arrivals, although some destinations sometimes group these together into one data point. The CTO numbers show cruise passenger arrivals saw a far smaller decline of 1.1 per cent in the same period, with a total of 482,791 total cruise passenger arrivals.

The devastating October 2025 storm disrupted infrastructure and damaged major tourism facilities. Hotel operations functioned at roughly 70% capacity during early 2026 as properties underwent extensive repairs, while Canadian stopovers dropped significantly by 26.2% in the first three months of the year.

As of mid-April 2026, the hotel sector was projected to rebound strongly with capacity expected to recover to more than 80 per cent by summer. 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 last month, Portfolio Minister Edmund Bartlett, emphasised that these outcomes were achieved with only 70 per cent of the tourism inventory available following  Melissa, noting that in the wake of the hurricane, the Jamaica Tourist Board responded swiftly to recalibrate its strategy for the sector.

Caribbean numbers at a glance

Generally, the Caribbean has been performing extremely well so far in 2026 with a renewed burst of visitation from the Canadian market. This has come in large part due to a shift in Canadian travel from its traditional stronghold, Cuba, to other markets in the Caribbean, as Cuba’s tourism sector has been largely shut down. 

While several large resorts in Jamaica are still working to reopen, the vast majority of the island’s hotel stock is back and operating again. Second-quarter numbers will be a key indicator as to whether this is simply the residual impact of Hurricane Melissa or a broader trend.