Tourism Minister wants more Money to be Retained Locally

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says that while tourism earnings continue to soar to record highs, it is equally important that a large amount of this money be retained for local circulation.

It is against this background that the Minister wants to see the current retention of 30 per cent of every dollar improve to 40 per cent, bringing the country closer to world-leading India at 60 per cent, and in line with projections of US$2 billion in net earnings by 2021.

Mr. Bartlett, who was speaking to JIS News while touring sections of Barrett Town, St. James, recently, said he is also happy with comments from the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) Governor, Brian Wynter, regarding the healthy state of tourism and the huge impact it is having on the economy.

“He is totally correct in crediting tourism’s strong position and its continued dominance as… underlying reasons why Jamaica, for the second consecutive year, is earning more in foreign exchange than it actually spends,” he said.

The Minister added that with gross earnings of J$125 billion and record numbers in both cruise-ship and stopover arrivals over the past winter tourist season, “I see no reason why we won’t be able to improve on our retention of the dollar also.”

At the BOJ’s quarterly press briefing at the Hilton Rose Hall Hotel in Montego Bay on May 19, Mr. Wynter noted that the strong gains in tourism have helped the current account deficit for fiscal year 2016/17 to be at 1.8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), which is below the two per cent of GDP for the previous fiscal year.

“While we are encouraged by this vote of confidence, we are also aware that the work has just started,” the Minister said, adding that it is now the responsibility of the tourism sector to ensure that all growth targets and projections remain on track.