The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) has named Jamaica as the Tourism Resilience Hub of the world, a global endorsement of the country’s leadership in tourism crisis readiness and recovery.
The recognition came last week on Day 3 of FITUR 2026, the world’s largest tourism fair with 255000 trade visitors from 156 countries, held in Madrid, Spain, which is the headquarters of UN Tourism, which is a specialised agency of the United Nations promoting responsible, sustainable and universally-accessible tourism. Jamaica exited the 5-day tourism conference on the weekend with accelerated recovery and new investment momentum behind its tourism rebound.
In welcoming the announcement, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett said, “UN Tourism’s announcement confirms what we have been building for years: Jamaica is a global centre for resilience thinking and recovery action, As the Tourism Resilience Hub of the world, we will help to shape the tools, partnerships and best practices that enable destinations to recover faster and grow stronger after shocks. The destination secured at FITUR 2026 has a stronger alignment with major hotel partners to speed up reopening timelines, deeper coordination with key airlift and marketing partners, and expanding investor interest in aviation and destination development.
The engagements advanced Jamaica’s strategy to protect livelihoods, restore room stock, strengthen airlift performance, and mobilise investment for resilient infrastructure and destination reimagining, particularly across the eastern and southern parishes. Bartlett told the tourism showcase, “Jamaica is not simply recovering—we are rebuilding with purpose. We are inviting investment from CAF, the development bank of Latin America and the Caribbean and private-sector partners to accelerate resilient infrastructure and a reimagined tourism product. Resilience is now the foundation of investor confidence and community protection.”
Jamaica strengthens its tourism partnerships
Jamaica used FITUR to press for faster reopening schedules and stronger worker-support mechanisms as major properties restore inventory. In meetings with Grupo Piñero and Hyatt leadership, Jamaica highlighted the economic drag from the closure of approximately 1,000 rooms in the Montego Bay area and outlined practical requirements to accelerate reopening—including the mobilisation of skilled labour, improved import logistics, and enabling administrative measures. The parties agreed to prioritise earlier timelines where feasible and advanced a follow-up visit to Jamaica involving Hyatt, Bahía and Tortuga interests to confirm reopening schedules by property and explore expansion plans.
In a separate engagement with Bahía Príncipe, Jamaica advanced the Local First strategy to deepen local procurement and increase tourism dollar retention through stronger linkages. Bahía indicated a phased reopening intention of approximately 50% of room stock (about 650 rooms) by May with the remainder targeted by November, alongside discussions on market communications timed to restore confidence and support occupancy. Jamaica will formally encourage an earlier opening where possible, given the employment and economic implications. Jamaica also received updates from Royalton on reopening and expansion planning, including measures aimed at protecting workforce continuity and strengthening training and upskilling options during downtime.
With room stock gradually returning, Jamaica also moved to secure tighter airlift and demand-building coordination. In talks with TUI, one of the world’s leading tourism groups, CEO, Sebastian Ebel shared a global outlook shaped by market uncertainty and the company’s expansion into growth corridors, including Eastern Europe and South America. Jamaica’s team secured agreement for deeper coordination with the Jamaica Tourist Board Europe team, including stronger alignment on digital marketing and emerging platforms.
Jamaica targeting Europe
For Director of Tourism, Donovan White, “recovery is demand plus supply—inventory must return, but confidence must return faster. At FITUR we strengthened airlift and marketing alignment in Europe, sharpened our digital focus, and advanced the partnerships that keep Jamaica visible and bookable as rooms come back on stream.” TUI also expressed interest in reviewing greenfield hotel investment opportunities, particularly sites close to airports.
Jamaica also advanced investment discussions beyond hotels, including airport modernisation and development opportunities aligned with the Government’s destination reimagining agenda. In an engagement with the Reyes Group, Jamaica reviewed proposals for modernising airport systems and highlighted opportunities, including airports in Westmoreland and Clarendon, with follow-up engagement to be advanced at the appropriate ministerial level. Jamaica also promoted new development opportunities across eastern and southern parishes, consistent with the Government’s strategy to diversify the tourism footprint through sustainable, community-linked projects.
On Day 3, Minister Bartlett presented Jamaica’s tourism recovery case and the need for resilience investment, pointing to national stability and the discipline shown in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, when approximately 1.5 million people were left without basic necessities for nearly 60 days. He also referenced Jamaica’s leadership in establishing February 17 as Global Tourism Resilience Day, with a proposed observance in Nairobi, Kenya, next month.
In the coming weeks, Jamaica will progress follow-up engagements to accelerate reopening timelines, expand worker-support solutions aligned with sector stability, coordinate investor site visits and project scoping, and advance a resilience-focused financing pipeline with partners including CAF.