Jamaica’s Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has called for the creation of a Caribbean Tourism Resilience Fund, proposing a new regional financing model designed to protect destinations, tourism workers and small businesses from hurricanes and other economic shocks. Speaking during the State of the Tourism Industry Conference (SOTIC) in Guyana, Bartlett urged governments and industry leaders to invest in resilience before disaster strikes. But turning the proposal into reality will require agreement on funding, governance and accountability.
The Caribbean must fundamentally rethink how it finances tourism resilience, moving away from a cycle of disaster, reconstruction and renewed vulnerability, according to Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett.
Delivering his message during SOTIC 2026 in Georgetown, Bartlett called for the establishment of a permanent Caribbean Tourism Resilience Fund, intended to strengthen the region’s ability to anticipate, withstand and recover from hurricanes, climate-related disruption and other crises.
His proposal places tourism resilience at the centre of the Caribbean’s economic future, arguing that protecting the industry requires more than repairing damaged hotels and restoring visitor arrivals. It must also safeguard the workers, small businesses, communities and natural environments that sustain tourism across the region.
“For too long, we have become experts at rebuilding,” Bartlett said, arguing that the next stage of Caribbean development must focus on reducing the need to rebuild in the first place.
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From disaster recovery to long-term resilience
The Caribbean’s exposure to hurricanes and extreme weather makes resilience a central economic concern for destinations heavily dependent on tourism. Damage to airports, cruise ports, hotels, roads, utilities and coastal ecosystems can disrupt visitor flows, undermine employment and place additional pressure on public finances.
Bartlett pointed to Hurricane Melissa and its impact on Jamaica as a stark illustration of the financial risks facing the region. Figures cited by the minister put the storm’s combined damage and losses at approximately US$12.2 billion, equivalent to 56.7 per cent of Jamaica’s 2024 gross domestic product.
The proposed fund would seek to change the way destinations prepare for such events, providing a more permanent source of capital for prevention, emergency response and recovery rather than relying predominantly on financing secured after a disaster.
Bartlett envisages a mechanism that would bring together Caribbean governments, tourism businesses, development banks, insurers and private investors. By combining different sources of capital, the fund could potentially support projects that individual governments or smaller enterprises might struggle to finance independently.
The ambition is to make resilience an ongoing investment priority rather than an emergency expenditure activated only after a crisis.
Who would pay for the fund?
One of the most significant elements of Bartlett’s proposal is the possibility of a modest resilience contribution linked to visitor activity across the Caribbean.
The principle is straightforward: a relatively small contribution associated with the region’s substantial visitor numbers could generate a meaningful pool of funding for disaster preparedness, climate adaptation and community protection.
Bartlett has suggested that governments, hotels, airlines, cruise lines, financial institutions, insurers, pension funds and private investors should all have a role in supporting the initiative. He also wants contributions to be used strategically to attract additional investment through guarantees, co-investment arrangements, insurance products and partnerships with development banks.
Jamaica offers a relevant precedent in its Tourism Enhancement Fund, which was established to support tourism development and has historically been associated with visitor-related fees. However, the national arrangement has evolved, and the proposed Caribbean fund would require a distinct regional financing and governance structure.
No final contribution rate or binding financial commitments have been announced for the proposed fund. Any visitor-linked mechanism would need to be agreed by participating governments, with careful consideration of how the charge would be collected, how proceeds would be distributed and how its impact on the competitiveness of individual destinations would be assessed.
The question is not simply how much the region could raise, but how to create a system that is equitable, transparent and capable of attracting additional capital.
Six priorities for investment
Bartlett has outlined six areas in which the proposed fund could make a practical difference to the tourism economy.
These include investment in climate-resilient infrastructure, renewable energy and water security; rapid access to emergency liquidity following disasters; protection for tourism workers whose livelihoods are interrupted; financial assistance for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises; preservation of natural assets such as beaches, coral reefs and mangroves; and investment in technology, climate modelling and early-warning systems.
The emphasis on smaller businesses is particularly important. While major hotel groups may have access to international financing and insurance, independent guesthouses, restaurants, transport operators, farmers and community tourism enterprises can face greater difficulties securing the capital needed to recover from a major disruption.
For these businesses, access to timely financial assistance can determine whether they reopen quickly, remain closed for months or cease trading altogether.
A regional fund could help address this gap, provided its eventual design allows smaller enterprises to access support without excessive administrative hurdles.
Who would control the money?
The proposal raises a fundamental question: how would a regional fund be governed, and who would decide where the money goes?
The Caribbean comprises destinations with different economic circumstances, levels of tourism dependence and exposure to climate risks. A workable funding model would need to balance the needs of countries facing the greatest immediate threats with the long-term resilience priorities of the region as a whole.
It would also need to establish clear rules governing eligibility, project selection, financial oversight and the release of emergency funds.
Bartlett has pointed towards cooperation with regional and international financial institutions, including the Caribbean Development Bank, alongside wider partnerships with institutions such as Afreximbank and CAF. Such organisations could potentially help mobilise capital, structure investment and provide technical expertise.
However, their involvement in the proposed fund has not been confirmed through binding commitments. Nor has a final decision been announced on which institution would administer it or how participating governments and private-sector stakeholders would be represented.
These details will be critical. Investors and development partners will need confidence that contributions are being deployed effectively, while participating destinations will want assurances that funding decisions reflect regional priorities rather than the interests of individual countries or commercial operators.
Technology and the future of tourism resilience
Bartlett also sees technology as an important component of the proposed financing framework.
Artificial intelligence, satellite information, predictive analytics and real-time monitoring could help identify vulnerable infrastructure, assess coastal erosion, map uninsured businesses and establish where investment is most urgently needed.
The minister has suggested that the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre could contribute to a regional tourism resilience observatory, providing governments and investors with a stronger evidence base for decision-making.
Such an approach could help move resilience planning beyond broad assessments of climate exposure towards more targeted investment in individual destinations and communities.
The potential benefits extend beyond hurricanes. Better forecasting and crisis-management systems could also help tourism businesses prepare for other disruptions, from infrastructure failures to public-health emergencies and wider economic shocks.
For a region competing internationally for visitors and investment, the ability to demonstrate that destinations are prepared for disruption could become an increasingly important consideration.
When could the fund become reality?
For now, the Caribbean Tourism Resilience Fund remains a proposal rather than an established financing institution.
A launch date, confirmed capitalisation target and formal operating structure have yet to be announced. Its development would require governments to agree on the framework, identify reliable funding sources, establish governance arrangements and determine how the fund would work alongside existing disaster insurance and climate-finance mechanisms.
The Caribbean Tourism Organization and participating governments would also need to consider how the proposal could progress from a ministerial initiative to a coordinated regional programme.
The next stage will therefore depend on whether Bartlett’s call secures the political backing and financial partnerships required to move towards implementation. A shared commitment to resilience may be easier to establish than agreement on the practical details of who contributes, who benefits and who ultimately controls the capital.
Protecting the economic foundations of Caribbean tourism
The proposal comes against a backdrop of tourism’s considerable economic importance to the region. Its success depends not only on attracting visitors but also on protecting the infrastructure, workforce, local businesses and natural environments that make destinations viable.
Bartlett’s central argument is that resilience should be treated as an investment in the long-term sustainability of the industry, rather than a cost incurred only when disaster strikes.
A permanent regional fund could, in principle, help destinations prepare for future crises while directing capital towards communities and businesses that might otherwise struggle to recover. Whether it achieves that ambition will depend on the strength of its financing model, the transparency of its governance and the willingness of governments and industry stakeholders to share responsibility.
For Caribbean tourism, the proposal presents a question that extends well beyond Jamaica: can a region so dependent on tourism create a collective financial mechanism capable of protecting that industry before the next major crisis arrives?
Bartlett has put the idea firmly on the agenda at SOTIC 2026. The challenge now is to turn the ambition into an agreed, funded and accountable regional initiative.
