To boost tourism to Jamaica, the Jamaica Tourist Board and Airbnb have signed a partnership to showcase the island’s history, culture, cuisine and sporting events while supporting sustainable growth in the destination.
Airbnb currently lists about 4,000 properties across Jamaica, with an average host earning roughly $2,500 per year. By expanding community-based tourism initiatives, the collaboration aims to highlight Jamaica’s greatest asset—its people—while creating more opportunities for local hosts and small businesses.
“With this partnership with Airbnb, we will be able to offer a renewed focus on community-based tourism, which highlights our biggest asset: our people,” said Paul Pennicook, director of tourism at the Jamaica Tourist Board.
The Airbnb platform serves more than 140 million guests across over 34,000 cities in 191 countries, helping destinations attract new visitors and diversify their tourism offerings. The agreement with Jamaica follows a similar arrangement Airbnb reached with Aruba in November, reflecting the platform’s growing role in destination promotion and visitor experiences.
“This agreement has been long in coming and will play a key role in our efforts to diversify our tourism product to cater to the passions of a growing demographic,” said John Lynch, chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board. “I am confident that our partnership with Airbnb will be a fruitful one which will help to boost arrivals and enable more Jamaicans to participate in the tourism sector.”
Through joint marketing, community engagement and support for local hosts, the partnership seeks to present authentic Jamaican experiences to international travelers while encouraging economic benefits to spread more broadly across communities. Emphasis will be placed on responsible travel, preserving cultural heritage and promoting locally owned businesses in food, crafts and guided activities.
By aligning the Jamaica Tourist Board’s destination expertise with Airbnb’s global digital reach, the initiative aims to attract a wider range of travelers—those seeking cultural immersion, culinary discovery, music and sports events, and community-led stays. Ultimately, the collaboration is designed to increase visitor numbers, lengthen stays and create meaningful income-generating opportunities for Jamaicans involved in tourism.