Browsing: short-term rentals

Jamaica’s vacation rental sector enters the second half of 2026 with a long-overdue licensing framework advancing through the Ministry of Tourism, while Airbnb reports Caribbean as a standout global growth region, Tax Administration Jamaica intensifies enforcement, and housing affordability concerns push Parliament toward action.

Jamaica closed 2025 with record visitor arrivals and an accommodation licensing framework nearing completion, while Barbados refined its STR regime, the EU’s data-sharing rules entered enforcement, and global platforms reported Caribbean as a standout growth market.

Jamaica is a place that speaks to the senses. The smell of salt in the air, the rustle of palm…

Jamaica’s parliament opened debate on a short-term rental oversight bill in the first half of 2025, while Tax Administration Jamaica issued updated GCT guidance for vacation rental hosts, the EU’s landmark STR transparency regulation began implementation, and New York City marked two years of its disruptive Local Law 18.

In recent years, container homes have become one of the most talked-about trends in Jamaica’s real estate market. The buzz…

Container homes have gained significant attention in Jamaica’s real estate market in recent years. While prices have risen due to…

Jamaica posted record H1 2024 tourism revenue as its unregulated STR sector grew unabated, Canada’s landmark Budget 2024 restricted STR tax deductions with implications for diaspora investors, the EU’s STR transparency regulation moved toward enforcement, and New York City’s Local Law 18 reshaped urban vacation rental markets globally.

New York City’s council voted in January 2023 to enforce its landmark STR registration law, setting a September effective date that would reshape global platform regulation. Jamaica’s H1 2023 tourism arrivals surpassed pre-pandemic records as the unregulated Airbnb sector expanded rapidly, drawing fresh scrutiny from the JTB and Tax Administration Jamaica. Barcelona’s mayoral election pivoted partly on STR reform, and Caribbean digital nomad competition intensified.

In the dynamic world of short-term rentals, standing out among the multitude of listings is crucial for attracting guests. One…

Jamaica’s short-term rental market rebounded sharply in the first half of 2022 as tourism recovered faster than expected, the UK government launched the first national STR consultation in January, Airbnb reported 70% revenue growth, Barbados’s Welcome Stamp entered its second year and expanded, and Caribbean inflation began to squeeze host operating costs.

Jamaica’s short-term rental sector navigated a cautious recovery in the first half of 2021 as COVID-19 vaccination campaigns gradually unlocked international travel, the Resilient Corridors tourism model held firm, and digital nomad programmes across the Caribbean began reshaping the accommodation market in ways that Jamaica had yet to capitalise on.

The second half of 2020 produced two events that will define Caribbean tourism and short-term rental markets for years: Jamaica’s pioneering Resilient Corridors reopening model and Airbnb’s landmark IPO, which priced at US$68 and opened trading at US$144 on 10 December 2020, minting a company valued at nearly US$100 billion from the ruins of the year’s pandemic disruption.

The first six months of 2020 delivered the most severe shock the short-term rental industry has ever experienced. COVID-19 shut Jamaica’s borders in March, eliminated Caribbean tourism overnight, triggered the most controversial mass cancellation event in Airbnb’s history, and forced the platform to raise US$2 billion in emergency capital to survive — all while Jamaica’s unregulated STR sector received no dedicated government support whatsoever.

Jamaica’s tourism sector entered 2019 on record-breaking momentum, with short-term rental demand strong across Montego Bay, Negril, and Ocho Rios as Airbnb continued expanding its Caribbean inventory. Meanwhile, European cities were pioneering the STR regulation frameworks that Jamaica had yet to consider — a contrast becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

As Jamaica’s tourism growth continued through a strong first half of 2018, Japan’s parliament passed the Minpaku Law in June — the most sweeping national STR regulatory framework yet adopted by any major economy — signalling that the platform accommodation market’s era of operating in regulatory grey zones was drawing to a close. Jamaica’s Rent Restriction Act remained entirely irrelevant to the vacation rental market it had never been designed to address.