Jamaica’s Tourism Faces Long Recovery After Hurricane Melissa Shuts at least 26 Resorts
Photo Credit: A Sandals resort in Jamaica suffered extensive damage during Hurricane Melissa. Nikki Adkins
Skift Take
The collapse of Jamaica’s peak tourism season after Hurricane Melissa shows how unprepared the industry remains for extreme weather. Building climate resilience is no longer optional.
Hurricane Melissa, the strongest storm to hit Jamaica in more than 30 years, made landfall in late October and forced the closure of at least 26 resorts, wiping out months of peak-season bookings and dealing a multi-billion-dollar blow to the island’s tourism economy.
The World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank estimate Hurricane Melissa caused $8.8 billion in physical damage to Jamaica.
With tourism accounting for more than 30% of Jamaica's GDP, according to the Ministry of Tourism, and supporting 175,000 direct jobs plus 354,000 indirect positions, the closures represent both an immediate economic impact and a long-term challenge of increasing how resilient hotels and tourism businesses are in extreme weather conditions.
Insured losses for Jamaica from Hurricane Melissa are estimated to be between $2.2 billion and $4.2 billion, according to data analytics firm Verisk.
The primary cause of these losses is wind damage to
