by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 3:40 PM ET, Tue September 22, 2026
JAPEX 2026, Jamaica’s premier annual tourism event, wrapped up last week in Ocho Rios and, in addition to announcing a new framework for island tourism, local industry leaders provided details surrounding the latest hotel, cruise and airlift offerings.
Jamaica has made significant progress recovering from the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa last October. About 70% of the island’s room inventory is now operational, Philip Rose, Jamaica’s deputy director of tourism, explained during a JAPEX session. The remaining 30% of room inventory is expected to be available by early 2027.
In addition, between January 2026 and August 2026, Jamaica welcomed 2.3 million visitors, generating $2.5 billion for the island's economy.
"2026 brought remarkable recovery post-hurricane Melissa. To say that we
have achieved some remarkable numbers would be an understatement," said Rose, who pointed out that visitor demand is currently outpacing available room inventory on the island.
The good news is that thousands of hotel rooms will be coming online over the next few months (some from new construction others from property renovations). The wave of upcoming inventory includes a 49-room Zoetry property opening in October, followed by more than 1900 rooms in December, thanks to the addition of such properties as:
- Bahia Principe Explore Runaway Bay
- Sandals Resort Montego Bay + Sandals Caribbean Cay (former Sandals Royal Caribbean)
- MGM Muthu Crystal Cove + Muthu Diamond Lagoon, Montego Bay (formerly Royal Decameron Cornwall Beach)
- JOIA Rose Hall by Iberostar
An additional 3,465 rooms are scheduled to come online
during the first quarter of 2027. That lineup includes Dreams Rose Hall
Resort & Spa; Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall and Hyatt Zilara; Jewel Grande;
Secrets Resorts (including Breathless, Secrets Resorts St. James and
Secrets Resorts Wild Orchid); MGM Grand Muthu Runaway Bay; and Unico.
In
total, Rose said she will add 11,255 rooms to Jamaica’s inventory
between 2026 and 2027, and that number will increase even further over
the coming decade.
Looking ahead, Rose said between 15,000 and
20,000 rooms are slated for construction over the next 5 to 10 years,
with a total value of $5 billion.
Highlights of that development include:
- The Pinnacle, a project that will include of ur, 28-story residential towers with villas and commercial components
- Rose Hall Tourism Development Corridor, which will be an integrated tourism and residential zone
- North Coast Resort Investment Corridor reinvestment and expansion across key resort properties.
Airlift updates for Jamaica
Turning to commercial airline service to and from Jamaica, Rose said total available seats to Jamaica on commercial airlines are down 22% in 2026 from 2025. In addition, passenger arrivals are down 19.5%. At the same time however, Rose announced a variety of commercial airlift developments.
"Our team has been going across the globe and expanding airlift. We leave no stone unturned," Rose explained. "There is strong levels of confidence from the global airline partners."
Airlift developments on the horizon include:
- Expanded/new U.S. and Canada service as of 2026 with Breeze Airways out of Tampa, Florida on a twice-weekly basis.
- New direct routes to Montego Bay with Porter Airlines, adding nearly 5,000 seats for the winter season. This airlift will serve three major Canadian gateways: Toronto, Ottawa and Hamilton.
- Air Canada will fly routes from Halifax, Ottawa, Edmonton and Winnipeg
Cruise updates for Jamaica
Jamaica continues to be a popular
cruise destination, with a variety of cruise lines visiting, including
Norwegian Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Princess
and Virgin Voyages.
Between January and July 2026, Jamaica hosted
234 total cruise ship port visits, with most stops in Falmouth (81),
followed by Ocho Rios (76) and Montego Bay (73). Four ships also visited
Port Antonio.
One of the most popular cruise lines will join
those ranks come October. Disney Destiny will begin visiting Falmouth,
Jamaica, as of October 13, 2026, a major development for the island.
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