Jamaica’s tourism leaders are expressing their appreciation for the recent visit of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, welcoming both his presence on the island and his commitment to reassess the U.S. State Department’s current travel advisory for Jamaica.
Secretary Rubio’s visit to Kingston on Wednesday included meetings with Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness and other key government officials. Following the discussions, he announced, “We pledged (that) we’re going to go back and reevaluate the travel advisories as they currently stand to ensure that they do reflect the reality of the new numbers and what the numbers show,” Rubio said.
According to AP News, Holness expressed his enthusiasm at the prospect, saying, “We are committed to working collaboratively to ensure that travel advisories reflect the current realities and promote travel to Jamaica,” he said. “I’m confident that the dialogue initiated today will lead to tangible outcomes.”
Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, also articulated, “We are very grateful to Secretary of State Rubio for considering our position that the current travel advisory is outdated. Jamaica and the U.S. have long been closely aligned, and our friendship remains strong.”
Donovan White, Director of Tourism for the Jamaica Tourist Board, explained that the U.S. continues to be Jamaica’s foremost source market. “We love our U.S. visitors and they, in turn, love us. We welcomed more than 4 million visitors last year with the majority coming from the U.S.”
Since July 25, 2024, the U.S. State Department has maintained a “Level 3: Reconsider Travel” advisory for Jamaica on the basis of crime and inadequate medical services available in the country. This is just one step below the highest-level advisory type, “Level 4: Do Not Travel”, which doesn’t cast the popular Caribbean island destination in a particularly favorable light. According to the official notice, violent crime, including armed robberies and sexual assaults, are common, even in tourist areas.
With regard to the State Department’s Jamaica travel advisory, Rubio did not guarantee that the level would be lowered, but did indicate that changes were a possibility, considering the progress the Jamaican government has recently made in addressing crime. He noted that the Caribbean hotspot has “made very impressive progress in your general numbers overall when it comes to the murder rate and so forth.”
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