Jamaica rebuilds tourism after Hurricane Melissa

With peak tourism a month away, Jamaica is racing to rebuild after Category 5 Hurricane Melissa tore through the island’s west. All international airports have reopened, but many areas still face communications outages and loss of power. Officials forecast 7% winter growth and 4.3 million visitors; now damage is concentrated in the northwest and southwest, though Negril was largely spared. Tourism leaders target a Dec. 15 return, likelier for larger chains, amid discounts and bookings from aid workers. The death toll is 32, crews are trying to reach 25 isolated areas, and nearly half of customers remain without electricity.