Government hits back at Opposition over falling visitor arrivals, high airfares

The Government has hit back at the Opposition following its call for measures to address the reduction in visitor arrivals and high airfares.

Yesterday Opposition Spokesperson on Tourism and Linkages, Andrea Purkiss, urged Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett to detail plans to stem the decline in visitor arrivals as well as the soaring cost of air travel to Jamaica.

But on Tuesday, Transport Minister Daryl Vaz used his social media platform on X to accuse the opposition of misleading data use by comparing 2026 to 2024 “to interpret the data and exclude external shocks”.

“I won’t attempt to teach Ms Purkiss how supply and demand works. We are still operating at about 70 per cent room capacity. With less seats and less flights,” argued Vaz.

Back-to-back hurricanes in 2024 (Beryl) and 2025 (Melissa) as well as the collapse of low-budget airline Spirit have resulted in a falloff in visitor arrivals in the first quarter of 2026.

Vaz also noted that Bartlett outlined the external shocks in his sectoral debate presentation a few months ago, which included the impact of Melissa on hotel inventory in the western end of the island, airline capacity cuts on key United States routes and global cost pressures.

Airline prices have seen spikes in recent times due to uncertainty in the global oil sector largely triggered by the US’s war on Iran.

In addition, Spirit’s collapse has removed a significant low-cost option for passengers from key US destinations and has resulted in competitors driving up their prices.

The Jamaican Government has not yet indicated whether it is seeking to lure other airlines to the island to provide options for budget-friendly airfares.

- Karen Madden

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