From Cuba to Jamaica: Niurka Garcia-Linton's hospitality success story
June 26, 2026
As women continue to assume more leadership positions across Jamaica's tourism sector, Niurka Garcia-Linton stands among those helping to shape the industry's future.
The hospitality executive has spent nearly two decades with RIU Hotels & Resorts, contributing to the growth of one of Jamaica's largest resort operators.
With RIU celebrating 25 years in Jamaica, Garcia-Linton reflected on the company's evolution, its commitment to local talent and the lessons she has learned throughout a career built on service, relationships and adaptability.
Born and raised in Cuba, she said hospitality was a natural career choice.
“Hospitality, for some reason, has always been in my blood,” Garcia-Linton said. “The sales and marketing side of it has always been my passion.”
While working in Cuba, she became familiar with the RIU brand through its hotels in Varadero. At the time, she had no idea that years later she would become part of the company's leadership team in Jamaica.
An opportunity brought her to the island, where she joined SuperClubs and gained valuable experience that helped shape her career in Jamaican tourism.
“I always say SuperClubs was my school and my foundation,” Garcia-Linton said. “Who I am today in hospitality in Jamaica started there.”
After reaching a point where she felt she had accomplished all she could in that role, another opportunity emerged.
A conversation with then Director of Sales Angella Bennett led her to RIU,which was expanding its Jamaican operations.
Today, as RIU's sales director, Garcia-Linton credits much of the company's success to its ability to remain true to its identity while adapting to changing market demands.
“RIU knows who we are,” she said. “The company knows who they want to target and what the objectives are.”
Garcia-Linton believes one of RIU's most significant contributions to Jamaica's tourism landscape has been making all-inclusive vacations more accessible to residents.
“It gave Jamaicans living in Jamaica an opportunity to vacation in Jamaica,” she said. “It is a market that absolutely loves RIU and supports us a lot.”
Equally important, Garcia-Linton noted, has been the company's willingness to listen and evolve.
“Through the years, the mindset has changed,” she explained. “We sit at the table and we listen to our guests, travel advisors and tour operators. If the feedback makes sense and it means doing things better, we implement it.”
That willingness to adapt has helped RIU remain competitive while strengthening relationships with visitors and industry partners around the world.
One of the strongest of those relationships has been with Canada, one of Jamaica's most important tourism markets.
Garcia-Linton describes Canadian travellers as fiercely loyal to the brand and credits long-standing partnerships with tour operators for helping sustain Jamaica's tourism industry during challenging periods.
Following Hurricane Melissa last October, she said Canadian partners maintained their commitment to the destination even as visitor numbers temporarily declined.
“The load factor was very low after the island reopened,” Garcia-Linton recalled. “But yet they decided we are here for you, and investing in Jamaica was non-negotiable. The Canadian market was one of the first that filled our hotels. We are very grateful to our partners, and we are very grateful to the market itself.”
For a quarter century, RIU's growth in Jamaica has gone hand in hand with the support of WestJet and Sunwing. The close partnership between the hotel company and the tour operators has helped connect hundreds of thousands of travellers to the island while contributing significantly to Jamaica's tourism success story.
The company's impact, however, extends well beyond visitor arrivals.
Garcia-Linton said RIU's long-term investment in Jamaican employees has been equally important to its success.
“Ninety-nine per cent of our staff, including management, are Jamaicans,” she said.
Many of the employees honoured during RIU's 25th anniversary celebrations began their careers in entry-level positions before advancing within the organization.
“Some started in construction, some started in the kitchen and some started as bellmen,” Garcia-Linton noted. “Today, one is a sous chef and another is a public relations manager. The growth potential that this company offers is limitless.”
Those opportunities are not confined to Jamaica.
Employees are regularly given opportunities to work at RIU properties in other destinations, helping them broaden their experience and develop professionally.
“Right now, we have a shortage in the wedding department in Costa Rica and we are sending someone from Jamaica to that destination,” Garcia-Linton pointed out. “We not only believe in the talent, but we invest in it.”
Beyond its hotels, she said social responsibility remains central to RIU's corporate philosophy.
Globally, the company has invested millions of dollars in initiatives focused on children and environmental sustainability. In Jamaica, RIU supports a clinic in Negril that assists children born with orthopaedic conditions, helping provide specialist care, treatment and support for families.
RIU also partners with schools and environmental organizations, including projects aimed at protecting marine ecosystems and endangered species.
As a senior woman in the tourism industry, Garcia-Linton is particularly passionate about encouraging young women to pursue leadership opportunities.
Her advice begins with self-belief.
“Believe in yourself,” Garcia-Linton said. “We are all born with a unique gift. Sometimes, because we don't believe in ourselves, we don't develop that craft or put ourselves out there in boldness.”
She also stresses the importance of continuous learning, humility and surrounding oneself with positive influences.
“There is always someone who can teach you something,” Garcia-Linton said. “Surround yourself with people who help get your dreams bigger than even what you conceive them to be.”
Looking ahead, she acknowledges that tourism will continue to face challenges ranging from natural disasters and global conflicts to economic uncertainty.
Yet she remains confident in the industry's ability to adapt and recover.
“Every time there is a setback, we become stronger,” Garcia-Linton said. “The industry has proven that it can reinvent itself and come back better.”
That resilience, she believes, mirrors RIU's own experience in Jamaica.
After 25 years of growth, expansion and investment in people, the company's greatest achievement may be the trust it has earned from employees, guests and business partners alike.
“When we say, ‘Come, you can trust us,’ people come and realize that is true,” Garcia-Linton said. “RIU is here to stay, and RIU is here to invest in the people and the development of the people.”
The future of tourism, she added, will continue to be shaped by relationships, trust and a willingness to evolve. Those same values have guided RIU's first 25 years in Jamaica and, she believes, will remain essential as both the company and the country's tourism industry continue to grow.
