Tourism Stakeholders Urged to Satisfy Changing Demands of Consumers

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, is urging local tourism stakeholders to find new ways to appeal to the changing demands of consumers.

Speaking at the inaugural Island Routes Caribbean Adventures Conference at the Sandals Ochi Beach Resort on September 14, Mr. Bartlett urged participants to use their deliberations as the springboard for developing strategies to respond to the new realities of the industry and meet the challenges of 2016 and beyond.

“Once you have finished your conference, I would love to see a draft of the wonderful ideas and suggestions I know you will come up with,” the Minister said.

“Always remember that when visitors leave the confines of their homelands to visit your destination they go in search of their passions. It is your job to find out what those passions are and to find ways to ensure you satisfy them. Once you can do that, then you will win every day and twice on Sundays,” he added.

Mr. Bartlett noted that today’s travellers are more sophisticated and informed than ever before, making it extremely imperative that “we are prepared and on top of our game at all times.”

The Minister said that local tourism interests would be well served to look at what is happening globally and to emulate some of the best practices from some of the more popular tourist destinations.

“The tourism industry has the potential to create sustainable development, and Jamaica like countless destinations across the globe, has this opportunity at its finger tips. We must retool by channeling greater investment into the tourism sector to meet the demand of customers for quality and value at the right price,” he argued.

Mr. Bartlett said it is becoming clearer by the day that Jamaica is a great place for doing business and that the climate is ripe for more direct foreign investments.

“We have seen in recent times the plans by Karisma to build 5,000 rooms in St. Ann and also Sandals Resort International bringing three new hotels on stream over the next five years. These are real investments that will result in job creation and which inevitably will make life better for the people of Jamaica,” he noted.

He added that the tourism investments will have a trickledown effect where persons involved in agriculture, manufacturing, transport and the service industry will also benefit.

“When all of these rooms come on stream, we will have to find food to supply the hotels. This is where agriculture comes in and where our farmers have to get themselves ready to meet the demand. The same thing applies to our manufacturers, our transport operators and those involved in the service industry,” the Minister said.