A few months after Hurricane Melissa caused widespread damage to homes and key infrastructure as it battered Jamaica with terrifying winds and storm surges, a crucial part of the economy is showing signs of recovery: tourism.
Since the storm, more than 445,000 visitors have travelled to the island, injecting US$475mil (RM1.88bil) into the economy, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett told the Miami Herald.
The arrivals, he said, represent a rebound of about 80% to date of the sector.
“That’s humongous for a country that just came out of a Category 5 hurricane,” Bartlett said, noting that Melissa affected 1.5 million people and left many “with no electricity, no water, no roofs, no food” after it made landfall on Oct 28 in western Jamaica. The storm also left devastation in Haiti, where at least 43 people died, and in Cuba.
The strongest storm ever to strike Jamaica, Melissa left at least 45 people dead in the island-nation as it tore through historical towns, ripping off roofs and reducing hospitals, school and courthouses to rubble.
With more than 150,000 homes damaged, the storm inflicted billions of dollars in losses, equivalent to around 32% of the country’s gross domestic product. Tourism, a lifeline of the economy, was among the sectors hardest hit.
More than 4.3 million tourists flocked to Jamaica in 2024, pouring more than US$4bil (RM15.88bil) into the economy.
The sector contributes around 35% of Jamaica’s GDP and supports thousands of jobs across hotels, attractions, transportation, agriculture, manufacturing and the creative industries, according to data from the tourism ministry.
In December, the country officially reopened the tourism sector in hopes of welcoming visitors for the winter season. Even with all the international airports reopened and cruise ports back in operation, 28% of the sector remains closed.
That includes hotels that were severely damaged.
But 72% of the tourism assets are back, Bartlett said, including all but two major attractions, Appleton Estate & YS Falls, located near Black River, a popular tourist destination along the hard-hit southwestern coast.
The capital of St Elizabeth Parish, Black River suffered extensive destruction.
Its hospital, courthouse, churches and historic buildings were severely damaged or destroyed as storm surges and 298km/h winds ripped off roofs, knocked out the power grid and left much of the town in ruins.
After an aerial tour of the devastation, Prime Minister Andrew Holness described the port city as “totally destroyed”, and said rebuilding “is going to be a massive task”.
Bartlett said the return of visitors to Black River and other areas has restored confidence in the tourism industry.
“Even with 72% of the assets, the confidence is there,” he said.
“It’s a huge, huge recovery.”
Airline partners, tour operators and travel agents have all visited the island since Melissa to assess the recovery firsthand, Bartlett said, and have been “... able to validate the claim we’ve made that, ‘We are ready for the world’.”
“(The recovery of tourism) ... is more powerful than many gifts that can be given,” he added.
“That’s what we ask, ‘Come and visit us’ because in visiting us you consume, and your consumption pattern drives the economy of Jamaica. – JACQUELINE CHARLES/Miami Herald/dpa
