Purkiss sounds alarm over falling cruise passenger arrivals

KINGSTON, Jamaica—Opposition Spokesperson on Tourism and Linkages Andrea Purkiss has accused Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett of remaining “completely silent” on the state of the cruise shipping sector, which she said, has shrunk over 28 per cent since 2019.

Purkiss, the Member of Parliament for Hanover Eastern, said the world is experiencing a boom in cruise shipping while Jamaica is losing business. She addressed the matter on Tuesday during her maiden contribution to the Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives.

“He (Bartlett) has made statements claiming that the cruise sector ‘lives up to expectations.’ But the only expectation that has been met is his expectation that nobody would check his math,” said Purkiss.

She told the Parliament that before the Covid pandemic in 2019, Jamaica welcomed 1,544,233 cruise passengers.

“Fast-forward to the end of 2025. Jamaica finished the year welcoming just 1,106,361 cruise passengers. Our cruise sector has declined by 28.4 per cent compared to seven years ago,” said the first-term lawmaker.

Continuing, she said, “We are facing a massive shortage of nearly 438,000 visitors who are completely missing from our ports-438,000 less visitors using our taxi services, to buy our craft, to experience our attractions”.

According to Purkiss, the Government’s inability to reclaim cruise market share has cost tourism practitioners over three million in passenger opportunities. She said based on the assumption of a US$10 spend per guest, the economy would have lost US$30 million or J$4.5 billion.

Purkiss said she was not being unfair in her critique of the tourism minister.

“Is it that the global cruise industry has not rebounded since the Covid pandemic?” she asked, responding with, “The answer is a resounding no”.

The opposition spokesperson highlighted that global cruise volume has skyrocketed to an all-time high of 37.2 million passengers, a 25.2 per cent increase over 2019.

She said the Caribbean was dominating this boom, capturing 44 per cent of all global cruise traffic and that Jamaica’s neighbours were taking full advantage.

She told the Parliament that Antigua and Barbuda has grown 9.9 per cent after building a brand new terminal; Barbados is celebrating record-breaking numbers; Cozumel (Mexico) is handling 4.73 million visitors a year; and the Bahamas has grown 100 per cent.

—Lynford Simpson