JHTA allocates $10 million to aid tourism workers hit by Melissa

WESTERN BUREAU:

When Hurricane Melissa tore across Jamaica as a Category Five storm on October 28, thousands of tourism workers were left homeless, jobless, and uncertain.

Now, the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) has stepped in with a J$10-million relief plan aimed at restoring stability to the industry’s most vital resource, its people.

Approved during a recent JHTA Council meeting, the initiative will see two tranches of J$5 million drawn from the association’s charity fund to provide targeted assistance for tourism workers and their families who suffered significant losses during the storm.

“We’re focusing on the human side of recovery, our tourism family,” a senior JHTA executive told the council. “This is about ensuring that the workers who make our industry world-class can rebuild their lives with dignity.”

The association’s plan covers five main areas of support. First, it includes educational grants for the children of affected workers, with assistance for schoolbooks, uniforms, and essential supplies through partnerships with schools and education boards.

A suggestion was made of an ‘Adopt-a-Family’ programme, coordinated through hotel HR departments and JHTA chapters, allowing colleagues and partners to provide financial aid, home goods, or emotional support to displaced workers and their families. However, there is no clarity whether or not this was adopted.

In addition, unaffected hotels will serve as drop-off hubs for relief supplies such as food, water, bedding, and hygiene products, to be distributed through local tourism chapters. A volunteer skills database is expected to be developed to mobilise tourism workers with expertise in carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, and construction, so they can assist in rebuilding homes and community infrastructure.

The JHTA will also provide direct grants ranging from J$10,000 to J$100,000, based on verified damage assessments, for tourism employees and small attraction operators whose livelihoods were disrupted by the hurricane.

PARTNERSHIP

The JHTA will partner with the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) and its Education Foundation to extend the reach of the relief fund. The CHTA has already activated its ‘One Caribbean’ solidarity initiative, encouraging hotels across the region to donate US$1 per room night for 60 days, with proceeds going towards Jamaica’s recovery.

“This is not just a Jamaican effort,” the JHTA noted. “Our Caribbean partners have shown incredible solidarity, from fundraising raffles to adopting families of hospitality workers in Jamaica.”

Among those identified for special assistance are hospitality workers with newborns, expectant mothers, and employees with disabilities who require specialised care. The JHTA and CHTA are developing a ‘Baby Share’ concept to provide essential items for affected families in these vulnerable groups.

With an estimated 175,000 Jamaicans employed in tourism, the scale of displacement is still being assessed. Many hotel employees in western parishes such as Hanover, Westmoreland, and St Elizabeth lost homes or saw their workplaces shuttered due to extensive damage from wind and flooding. While several large hotels are offering internal support for their teams, the JHTA’s fund aims to reach those at smaller and independent properties that lack the financial capacity to provide similar relief.

“Some properties can afford to help, others simply can’t,” the council heard. “This fund will ensure that no worker is left behind.”

Hurricane Melissa, the strongest system to hit Jamaica in decades, caused billions in damage and temporarily crippled the island’s tourism lifeline. Yet, the JHTA’s initiative signals renewed confidence in the sector’s resilience and unity.

“Our goal is rapid recovery and stability for the people who form the backbone of Jamaica’s hospitality,” the association stated. “Tourism has always been about people and that’s where rebuilding begins.”

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com