Andrea Purkiss, the opposition spokesman on tourism, is accusing the Government of presiding over a decline in Jamaica’s cruise tourism sector, arguing that the island is losing market share while competing Caribbean destinations enjoy record growth in passenger arrivals.

Making her maiden contribution to the Sectoral Debate in Parliament on Tuesday, Purkiss said Jamaica welcomed 1,544,233 cruise passengers in 2019, but ended 2025 with just 1,106,361 arrivals, representing what she described as a 28.4 per cent decline from pre-pandemic levels.

She said the figures point to a troubling trend that has been largely overlooked amid the Government's celebration of overall tourism growth and visitor arrival records.