Tourism is Jamaica’s biggest earner of foreign exchange and one of its biggest employers. This page tracks how many visitors come, where they come from, what they spend and how the industry is recovering from Hurricane Melissa, using figures from the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) and the Ministry of Tourism.
Edition 2026, compiled 11 October 2026. Next scheduled update: October 2027. Full-year figures run to 2025; 2026 figures run to 31 August 2026 and are provisional.
Jamaica tourism stats at a glance
| Stat | Amount | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total visitors | about 3.7 million | 2025 | Ministry of Tourism |
| Stopover visitors | about 2.6 million | 2025 | Ministry of Tourism |
| Cruise passengers | about 1.1 million | 2025 | Ministry of Tourism |
| Gross tourism earnings | about US$4.0 billion | 2025 | Ministry of Tourism |
| Total visitors | about 4.27 million | 2024 | Ministry of Tourism |
| Stopover visitors | 2.9 million | 2024 | Caribbean Tourism Organization |
| Gross tourism earnings | about US$4.3 billion (record) | 2024 | Ministry of Tourism |
| Caribbean ranking by stopover visitors | 2nd, after the Dominican Republic | 2024 | Caribbean Tourism Organization |
| Airline seats to Jamaica | 3.9 million (80.6% filled) | 2025 | Ministry of Tourism |
| Visitors, January to August | 2.34 million (down 17%) | 2026 | Ministry of Tourism |
| Earnings, January to August | US$2.5 billion (down 18%) | 2026 | Ministry of Tourism |
| Hotel rooms back in service | about 70% | September 2026 | Ministry of Tourism |
| Rooms still to reopen | more than 11,000 | 2026–2027 | Ministry of Tourism |
| Hotel workers back at work | about 80,000 | June 2026 | Ministry of Tourism |
| Target | 8 million visitors, US$10 billion | by 2030 | Ministry of Tourism |
Visitors by year
| Year | Stopover visitors | Cruise passengers | Total | Earnings (US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2,352,915 | 1,923,274 | 4,276,189 | – |
| 2018 | 2,472,727 | 1,845,873 | 4,318,600 | – |
| 2019 | 2,680,920 | 1,552,346 | 4,233,266 | – |
| 2020 | 880,404 | 449,271 | 1,329,675 | – |
| 2023/24 (financial year) | 2.96 million | 1.34 million | 4.30 million | 4.38 billion |
| 2024 | 2.9 million | – | 4.27 million | about 4.3 billion |
| 2025 | 2.6 million | 1.1 million | 3.7 million | about 4.0 billion |
The pandemic cut stopover visitors by two-thirds in 2020. Tourism then recovered to about 4.27 million visitors in 2024, just short of the 2018 peak of 4.32 million when cruise traffic was at its height, with record earnings of about US$4.3 billion, before Hurricane Melissa struck in late October 2025, closing many of the big resorts in the west at the start of the winter high season.
Sources: JTB Annual Travel Statistics 2017–2020 (via Tourism Analytics); Jamaica Information Service (1 May 2024; 24 June 2026); eTurboNews; The Gleaner (2 May 2025; 11 April 2026). Figures for 2021 to 2023 calendar years will be added from the JTB’s annual statistics. The 2019 cruise figure is given as 1,553,230 in a later JTB table.
Where visitors come from
| Market | Share of stopovers, 2019 | Share of stopovers, Jan–Feb 2026 | Change in visitors, Jan–Feb 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 68.6% | 60.5% | ▼ 37.5% |
| Canada | 14.8% | 19.0% | ▼ 29.6% |
| United Kingdom | 8.4% | 9.1% | – |
| Europe | – | – | ▼ 14.6% |
| Latin America | – | – | ▲ 5.7% |
| Asia | – | – | ▲ 6.9% |
| Caribbean | 2.7% | – | – |
Americans make up the large majority of visitors, but the US market fell hardest after the hurricane, so Canada’s share has grown. Latin America is the fastest-growing market, up more than 80% in 2025, led by visitors from Panama, Colombia and Peru. Sources: JTB via Tourism Analytics; NCB Capital Markets analysis of JTB data (2026); The Gleaner, 19 January 2026.
Hurricane Melissa and the recovery
Hurricane Melissa made landfall as a Category 5 storm on 28 October 2025 and did its worst damage in the western parishes, where most of the large all-inclusive resorts are. Visitor arrivals from abroad fell 43% in the last quarter of 2025, and output in hotels and restaurants fell 31%. By September 2026 about 70% of hotel rooms were back in service, and planes were flying fuller than before the storm even though there were fewer seats.
| Measure | Figure | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foreign visitor arrivals | ▼ 43.0% | Oct–Dec 2025 | STATIN |
| Accommodation and food services output | ▼ 31.0% | Oct–Dec 2025 | STATIN |
| Stopover visitors | 321,395 (468,235 in 2025) | Jan–Feb 2026 | JTB |
| Cruise passengers | 161,157 (down 5.9%) | Jan–Feb 2026 | JTB |
| Visitors / earnings | more than 1 million / US$956 million | Jan–Mar 2026 | Ministry of Tourism |
| Stopover / cruise visitors | just over 1 million / 664,000 | Jan–May 2026 | Ministry of Tourism |
| Visitors / earnings | 2.34 million / US$2.5 billion | Jan–Aug 2026 | Ministry of Tourism |
| Airline seats | ▼ 22% | 2026 to September | Ministry of Tourism |
| Seats filled (load factor) | 85%, up 3.8 points | 2026 to September | Ministry of Tourism |
| Hotel rooms in service | about 70% | September 2026 | Ministry of Tourism |
Rooms still to come back
| When | Rooms | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| November 2026 | 392 | Sandals South Coast |
| December 2026 | more than 1,900 | – |
| January–March 2027 | just under 3,500 | Montego Bay and Rose Hall resorts, including Hyatt Zilara and Ziva, Secrets St James and Wild Orchid, Breathless, Dreams Rose Hall and Jewel Grande |
| 2026–2027 in total | more than 11,000 | – |
Half Moon in Montego Bay has fully reopened, and Royalton Negril, Grand Lido Negril and Royalton Blue Waters were due back in August and September 2026. The Ministry expects room stock to be about 95% restored by December 2026 and fully restored in the first quarter of 2027, with 15,000 to 20,000 new rooms planned over the next 5 to 10 years. Sources: The Gleaner, 15 September 2026; Caribbean Journal, 4 September 2026; Jamaica Information Service, 24 June 2026.
What changed this year
- A hurricane year. Visitors fell to about 3.7 million in 2025 from about 4.27 million in 2024, after Hurricane Melissa closed much of the west’s hotel stock at the start of the winter season.
- Recovery under way. About 70% of rooms were back by September 2026, and visitors to August were down 17% on 2025.
- Full planes, fewer seats. Airlines cut seats by 22% but flew 85% full.
- New markets. Latin America grew more than 80% in 2025, while the UK continued a multi-year decline.
How this page is updated
Jamaica Homes refreshes this page every October. We use the Jamaica Tourist Board’s Annual Travel Statistics and monthly reports, the Ministry of Tourism, STATIN’s national accounts and the Caribbean Tourism Organization. Ministry figures given in speeches are often rounded or provisional and may be revised in the JTB’s annual report.
| Edition | Main changes |
|---|---|
| October 2026 | First edition: visitors 2017–2025, source markets, Hurricane Melissa impact and recovery, 2026 to date. |
Sources: Jamaica Tourist Board, Annual Travel Statistics (via Tourism Analytics); Ministry of Tourism and Jamaica Information Service (1 May 2024; 24 June and 2 September 2026); The Gleaner (2 May 2025; 19 January, 11 April and 15 September 2026); Caribbean Journal (4 September 2026); NCB Capital Markets (2026); STATIN quarterly GDP, October–December 2025; eTurboNews; Travelweek.