How has Hurricane Melissa affected tourism in Jamaica? -Darcey B
Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on the 28th October and moved onwards shortly after. The damage that it left behind was severe and it has significantly impacted lots of aspects of the country including tourism. So far at least 67 people have died from the storm as well as $4 billion insured losses. Tourism hugely helps the Jamaican economy grow, so how far has the storm affected it?
Tourism has been impacted by the hurricane destroying many public attractions. Public attractions are important to tourists as it gives them a history of the island and emphasizes the great qualities about it.
In a recent podcast, Edmund Bartlett (Jamaica’s Minister of tourism) stated that “60%, perhaps, of our tourism assets were affected.” This included hotels, restaurants, homes and workplaces all being destroyed. With lots of buildings crumbled to the ground there are less accommodations for tourists to stay in. Consequently, they will have lots of trouble finding somewhere safe and secure to accommodate them.
Additionally, beaches and other attractions have also been affected. Montego Bay is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Jamaica and it has been torn down by the storm meaning one of the main attractions is not in use anymore. On top of the beach being out of use, Montego is also the location of the main airport in Jamaica, pointing out the difficulties of repairing it before it is operable again. All these factors can lead to less and less people wanting to travel to Jamaica, vitally impacting the economy. This is very problematic for Jamaica’s economy as 30% of the GDP comes from tourism.
How will Jamaica recover from this?
Over the past decade, Jamaica has been building up a fund to help in the event of a natural disaster. Now that Hurricane Melissa has passed, this fund will help pay for the repairs of the damage caused. Additionally, lots of the buildings that were knocked down were insured. This is a good thing as the insurance companies can help pay to fix most of the damage too.
In conclusion, I believe that Hurricane Melissa has affected the tourism industry in Jamaica very significantly. With buildings being flattened and attractions that have been demolished, there are less people that will want to visit Jamaica. Due to the fact that people won’t want to visit, it minimizes the jobs for people who live in Jamaica. There are lots of jobs in the tourism industry and they will be wasted with no people visiting. Overall, this hurricane has massively affected tourism and the economy of Jamaica.
Sources I used: BBC News, KERA News, CBC News
By Darcey B
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