Investment in Jamaica’s tourism industry has entered a new phase, moving from a largely domestic capital-driven investment model to one in which Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) has assumed a much larger role.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: the first is to examine this trend and to determine the impact on the country’s tourist industry from the perspective of the ownership structure and the directionality of the overall industry; the second is to examine the impact of this increased level of FDI on the country’s economic, social, infrastructural and political development.