Minister Bartlett Underscores Importance of Ideas Driving Tourism Innovation

Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says the generation of ideas is key to driving continuous changes that facilitate the constant emergence of innovations in the local hospitality industry.

“Ideas are what drive tourism. Tourism doesn’t happen with repeating business activities on a daily basis; [it] grows because there are changes. [Where] there is innovation, there is value added,” Mr. Bartlett noted.

He was speaking during the Jamaica Centre for Tourism Innovation (JCTI) Career Expo 2024 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Rose Hall, St. James, on March 15.

Mr. Bartlett noted that the number of tourists traversing countries globally over the next 25 years is projected to increase by 1.5 billion.

“So you are looking at 2.5 billion people; [and] our job is going to be to create products that will respond to these… trends,” he added.

Against this background, Minister Bartlett said the industry will require innovative thinkers to continually add value to the wide-ranging outputs.

He told the expo attendees that “that’s the future that we are inviting you into, to be innovators, thinkers [and] planners”.

“You are going to be people who not only are creators of new processes but you are going to manipulate existing processes and add value to them and make them better,” he said.

Mr. Bartlett, who highlighted the “endless opportunities” that Jamaica’s tourism industry can potentially provide, pointed out that the value-added component accounted for 11 per cent of the sector’s 2.9 per cent growth recorded last year.

“I’m excited about the prospects of enabling the Jamaican economy to… see the benefit of US$5 billion in earnings by 2025,” he stated.