Jamaica hails trade after scooping Globes top tourist board award

The Jamaica Tourist Board paid tribute to the “humbling and overwhelming” support of travel agents in helping the island’s hurricane recovery efforts as it won Best Tourist Board at the Globe Travel Awards 2026.

The JTB marked its 70th anniversary in 2025 with a ‘70 for 70’ fam trip programme, hosting 70 agents on educational trips over 12 months. It has now pledged to host more agents over the coming year to show them how the island is bouncing back from Hurricane Melissa.

Elizabeth Fox, regional director for the UK and northern Europe, said: “We are very humbled by the support of the trade since Hurricane Melissa. They have totally overwhelmed us with their love for Jamaica.

“We were having a great year until October 28 when Hurricane Melissa came in uninvited, but we’ve always been an island known for resilience.”

The tourist board’s latest arrivals data reveals the island welcomed 444,000 visitors within two months of Hurricane Melissa – of which 193,000 were cruise passengers – generating $474 million in tourism income.

It also shows the country welcomed 70,000 visitors within the first seven days of the winter season, which began on December 15.

Within eight weeks of the disaster, arrivals were back to 80% of pre-hurricane levels. The tourist board said 70% of the country’s hotel accommodation is now open as it hailed a “strong” start to the winter season, with the US, Canada, the UK and South America “driving the recovery”.

“We have a few hotels that are still closed but most of Jamaica is open and agents are supporting us by selling the hotels and selling Jamaica,” said Fox.

“This shows the love and the confidence that agents have for Jamaica, and it means a lot – especially this year. We can’t thank them enough.”

Torrance Lewis, district manager for the UK and Ireland, said: “We have done a lot for travel agents in the last 12 months. We have dedicated a member of staff for homeworkers, and we’ve added to our team so there are three of us out there now, not two, which mean more faces, more smiles.

“We’re going to bring out as many agents as we can to come and see the brilliance of Montego Bay 2.0 for themselves. It’s going to be a jamboree.”