Tourism Minister Outlines Transformative Direction for Sector

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says the Government will be pursuing a bold ‘Tourism 3.0’ agenda aimed at increasing local ownership, strengthening supply chains, and ensuring more Jamaicans benefit directly from the sector’s earnings.

The Minister said the new direction will centre around positioning tourism as a driver of economic security and transformation, while deepening linkages between the industry and local producers, manufacturers and service providers.

He was speaking at the 11th Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) Speed Networking event, held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St. James, on Thursday (May 7).

Mr. Bartlett said the country is now entering a new phase in tourism development, following the passage of Hurricane Melissa.

“Melissa came. Melissa bent us… badly bent, yes, but she didn’t break us, and because she didn’t break us, we have bounced forward with a new purpose, with a new determination to reimagine ourselves and to reposition this great industry to be a huge driver, not of economic transformation only but of economic security for the people of Jamaica,” he said.

The Minister explained that the Tourism 3.0 framework will place Jamaicans at the centre of the industry’s development.

“We are going to do it under the rubric of local first, meaning to say that tourism must be first for the people of Jamaica and then for our guests that we bring internationally to our shores,” Mr. Bartlett added.

He pointed out that although Jamaica has made progress in developing tourism linkages over the years, the country still imports a significant percentage of the goods and services needed by the industry, due to inadequate local production capacity.

Mr. Bartlett said the Government will now be pursuing stronger legislative, fiscal and regulatory measures to help local suppliers scale up production and improve reliability.

“We need sufficiency of supplies. We need reliability of supplies. We can’t wake up one morning and say to the guests, 2,000 of them in the hotel, that there’s no eggs because the farmer didn’t turn up with the eggs,” he said.

The Minister further indicated that discussions are under way with financial institutions regarding the creation of special financing arrangements tailored specifically for tourism-related enterprises.

Meanwhile, incoming TEF Chairman, Ryan Parkes, said the Fund will play a central role in supporting the Ministry’s vision for the sector.

“We are at an inflection point in our history where the Minister’s vision and that of the Ministry of Tourism is to reimagine Jamaica’s tourism product,” Mr. Parkes said.

He noted that the TEF will focus heavily on workforce development and strengthening tourism linkages to improve Jamaica’s competitiveness globally.

“As we reimagine our tourism product, we at the Tourism Enhancement Fund will be playing our part in working closely with all the components that form part of what we call tourism linkage, to ensure that we have the best product to offer the world,” Mr. Parkes added.