The Right Kind of Return: Empathy and Travel After Crisis
Jamaica has just faced immense loss in the wake of Hurricane Melissa. As images of the devastation circulate, conversations around travel inevitably shift — should we still go, and if so, when?
Hurricane Melissa left behind not just physical damage, but deep disruption to lives and livelihoods. For a nation where tourism forms a vital part of the economy, the consequences of such an event ripple far beyond infrastructure — affecting small guesthouses, market vendors, guides, and artisans whose daily work depends on visitors.
In the days and weeks following disasters like this, there is a familiar tension among travellers. Many want to help, yet feel uncertain about what “helping” looks like. The instinct is often to cancel or postpone trips out of respect or discomfort. While that instinct comes from care, it can also have unintended effects — depriving local communities of the very income that supports recovery.
Empathy in travel, therefore, asks for something more nuanced than retreat. It calls for attentiveness: listening to local voices, understanding when a community is ready to welcome visitors again, and recognising that tourism, when done responsibly, can be a form of solidarity.
We’ve seen this elsewhere. In the aftermath of the wildfires in Maui, many residents urged travellers to stay away from the most affected areas, while encouraging visits to other parts of the island that remained open — a way to keep people employed while allowing space for recovery. After the earthquakes in Morocco and Türkiye, locally led initiatives invited travellers to return once safety was assured, emphasising that tourism income was essential for rebuilding homes and restoring cultural heritage.
Empathetic travel isn’t about turning tragedy into a backdrop, nor about arriving as a saviour. It’s about being conscious of context — choosing locally owned stays, booking small operators who directly employ local people, supporting community projects, and moving at a slower pace that allows time to listen and learn. It’s also about acknowledging when a destination still needs space and time to heal before it can host again.
As Jamaica begins its recovery, travellers can play a quiet but meaningful part in that process — not by avoiding the island, but by approaching it with sensitivity, curiosity, and care. Thoughtful tourism, grounded in empathy, has the power to contribute not only to economic renewal, but to the restoration of confidence and connection.
Empathy, in this sense, becomes a practice: a way of travelling that responds to the realities of others, honours resilience, and seeks to leave something good behind.
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On a personal note, I have myself responded to Caribbean hurricanes as a humanitarian and have seen the realities of everyday life for countries devastated by crisis but strong in resolve. I now support search and rescue and disaster response teams deploying and have ongoing insight into the response and recovery processes through links with the United Nations.