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Tourism Demand Study shows need for J$391.6 Billion in Agricultural and Manufacturing Goods, says Bartlett

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Jamaica Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says data from a recent demand study shows the need for J$391.6 Billion in goods from the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. The break-out shows a demand for goods of J$352 Billion for manufacturing and J$39.6 Billion for agriculture.

The tourism demand study was designed to identify the existing/potential demand in the tourism sector for goods and services across local sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and entertainment. The study is done through the Ministry’s Tourism Linkages Council.

Minister Bartlett, who officially handed over the demand study to President of the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association (JMEA) Richard Pandohie, said, “The purpose of the study is to help guide our decisions as it relates to the consumption patterns of our visitors and these figures show a very high demand for products in agriculture and manufacturing.

We want our local tourism suppliers to provide these inputs in agriculture and manufacturing so that we reduce the leakage of our earnings.”

Mr. Pandohie, who accepted the demand study, also highlighted the need to have more inputs supplied locally to reduce the leakage within tourism.

Through the Tourism Linkages Network, the Ministry of Tourism has been strengthening linkages with other sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and entertainment to build the capacity of local suppliers to meet the growing demands within tourism.

“What these figures indicate is that there are many opportunities for increased linkages with local suppliers to facilitate import substitution in producing various items. The aim of the Ministry of Tourism is to foster more purchasing of local goods and services, which will reduce the imports and help to plug the leakages from importation,” said Minister Bartlett.

The study found specifically that the significant increase in hotel constructions across the island has influenced the demand for manufactured products needed to furnish these establishments.

The study also highlighted that mainly local producers were satisfying the demand for goods and services in the tourism sector, but that importation also constituted a reasonable proportion of expenditure on certain items.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jamaica Ministry of Tourism, Corporate Communications, 64 Knutsford Boulevard, Kingston 5, Tel: 920-4926-30, Fax: 920-4944

Jamaica Rum Festival to be Marketed as Tourism Product

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Jamaica Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, has announced that the Jamaica Rum Festival (JRF) will be packaged and marketed as a tourism product and sold to potential visitors to the island.

Speaking at the launch of the festival at Devon House last evening, Minister Bartlett said: “We want the rum festival to be a product, not just an event. So, we want to, through the Jamaica Tourist Board, package it with rooms and with seats and bring the visitors to Jamaica to consume this critical asset that is from the heart and soul of the Jamaican people.”

The JRF covers an exploration of Jamaican rum; how it is made; the varying types and how best to enjoy it.

Globally, millions of people travel annually to attend various types of festivals, which have become a niche that destinations can capitalize on to boost arrivals and earnings.  Last year, the JRF attracted 6000 patrons.

Minister Bartlett said: “In marketing the festival as a product, I am building out the capacity to retain the earnings from the tourism industry. In 2016, we were retaining only 30 cents on the dollar.

“Today because of the networks and the various new and opinionated attractions that we are putting together in Jamaica plus the increase in rooms and airlift, we now retain 40.8 cents on the dollar, which is an increase of 30 percent, the highest in the Caribbean.”

The Ministry’s Tourism Linkages Network continues to strengthen the links between tourism and other economic sectors to increase consumption of local goods and services, diversify the tourism product and retain more of the country’s foreign exchange earnings.

“We are committed to creating a tourism that is reimagined that provides the most authentic Jamaican experiences for our visitors. In doing that, we will allow our small suppliers to earn more from the value chain of the sector by providing their creativity and passion,” added the Minister.

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MEDIA CONTACT: Jamaica Ministry of Tourism, Corporate Communications, 64 Knutsford Boulevard, Kingston 5, Tel: 920-4926-30, Fax: 920-4944

Plans in High Gear for UNWTO Conference on Resilience and Innovation

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Jamaica Tourism Minister Hon. Edmund Bartlett says plans are in high gear for Jamaica to host the first ever UNWTO  (United Nations World Tourism Organization) Summit on Innovation and Resilience Management, in Montego Bay this May.

“Jamaica has been selected as the venue for the first ever Global Summit on Innovation and Resilience Management. This is very important for us as a destination because the discussions on resilience have become the new reality within tourism and by extension the global space. It is resilience that will give us the capacity to respond to the global disruptions that are coming daily,” said Minister Bartlett.

The two-day UNWTO Global Summit on Innovation and Resilience Management begins on May 28 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre and coincides with the 65th Meeting of the Regional Commission for the Americas (CAM), of which Jamaica is currently the Chair.

“This conference is going to look very seriously at models [of resilience building] and get best practices from different countries on how ideas have been coming together to build capacity and help us in the Caribbean in terms of dealing with these seismic events that are now part of our reality,” he said.

He added that, “The other key part of it is innovation, which is at the heart of understanding how to add value to our process.  Adding value is what we are about… So start-ups will be a big part of this conference. We are going to be looking at examples of start-ups with the Caribbean.”

The Tourism Minister also stated that the conference is going to focus on how to create new and exciting experiences for the industry with key experts from across the globe sharing how they think the future of tourism is going to be constructed.

“We have to get a better understanding overall about how the future of tourism is going to be constructed and this conference will seek to look into that. Change creates a level of uncertainty unless you have knowledge and you are able to be guided by analytics. This is what we are about… We are building the capacity to be able to project better, to respond faster and to be nimble and adaptive,” said Minister Bartlett.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jamaica Ministry of Tourism, Corporate Communications, 64 Knutsford Boulevard, Kingston 5, Tel: 920-4926-30, Fax: 920-4944

Ocho Rios Number 1 Port in Jamaica, contributing 40% of total arrivals in 2019

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Jamaica Tourism Minister Hon. Edmund Bartlett says Ocho Rios has emerged as the number one port in the country, having contributed forty percent of total visitor arrivals in 2019.

Preliminary data from the Jamaica Tourist Board indicate that Jamaica welcomed approximately 4.3million visitors last year. Of that number, cruise passengers accounted for over 1.5million.

Speaking at the inaugural visit of the Norwegian Bliss today in Ocho Rios, Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett said, “Ocho Rios has had a phenomenal growth trend for last year, welcoming 197 calls, which represented a passenger count of over 600 thousand. This is a 40% contribution to our overall visitor arrivals and has made Ocho Rios the number port for calls in the island.”

The additional call of the Norwegian bliss will add over 11,000 visitors to Jamaica’s cruise numbers following its two calls this year.

Jamaica remains one of the most sought after cruise destinations with diverse tourism products and experiences as well as some of the biggest and best ports. Last year, Jamaica was awarded top Caribbean Cruise Destination of the year for 2018 from Caribbean Journal, the world’s largest website covering Caribbean travel and trade news.

“Cruise Tourism forms an integral part in the Ministry of Tourism’s overall growth strategy and I am pleased about the numbers coming out of Ocho Rios. There’s more good news as the projection for Ocho Rios for the first quarter of 2020 is 36 calls that will amount to over 86 thousand visitors” said Minister Bartlett.

Executive Director of Jamaica Vacations, the agency of the Ministry of Tourism responsible for cruise tourism, Joy Roberts, also indicated that more port experiences are being built out to attract more passenger engagement and spend. This is being done through entertainment and food and will be done through multi-port destinations for cruise ships to give each port its own unique theme so passengers will leave satisfied with a variety of experiences.

“The most recent imitative is the offer of a cup of Jamaica Blue Mountain (JBM) Coffee on arrival at all ports which began with the inaugural visit of the Norwegian Bliss. This gesture will help increase brand awareness and the sale of locally grown premium coffee to international markets,” Minister Bartlett added.

Media Contact:

Corporate Communications Division

Ministry of Tourism

64 Knutsford Boulevard| Kingston 5

T: (876) 920-4926-30 (o)| (876) 906 1729 (f)

Minister Bartlett says his Ministry is committed to increase of local goods consumed in hospitality industry

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Jamaica’s Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says the Agricultural Sector must be transformed to better meet the consumption requirements of visitors to the island.

“The production patterns of agriculture in the region has to be lifted to a higher level where we are the suppliers of what is required for consumption. We must train and develop human capacity to improve the production and consumption patterns within our space,” said Minister Bartlett.

He said his Ministry is working very closely with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, to increase consumption of locally grown food in the sector and to assist farmers who supply the sector.

This drive has been led by the Tourism Linkages Network, in collaboration with the Agriculture Ministry, and has resulted in the creation of several programmes and initiatives geared towards building the capacity of farmers to supply on this demand and ultimately earn more from the tourism pie.

The Minister made these remarks at the USAID’s Farmer-to-Farmer Conference 2020, hosted at the Liguanea Club on January 06, 2020.

“We commend initiatives like the USAID Farmer-to-Farmer Programme that focus on human capital development, of some of our most critical members of society – our farmers. At the Ministry of Tourism, we too have been focusing on development of industry workers by providing training and certification for not just our workers but key suppliers in the sector,” said Minister Bartlett.

He stressed that gastronomy is one of the leading reasons for travel. Therefore, in order for Jamaica to retain more earnings from this niche, it is critical for us to supply more of the goods locally.

Data from the Tourism Linkages Network’s 2019 demand study, which looks at the demands or inputs required for the sector, also revealed that the total value of demand for agricultural products in the tourism amounted to J$39.6 billion.

“The relationship between travel tourism and gastronomy is at the heart of the reasons for people to move from destination to destination. Eighty-eight percent of the people in the world travel for food experiences and 42% of the expenditures of the visitor is on food.

Agriculture and farmers become a central part of travel and tourism. Since we are about fulfilling the passions of people and food is the number one passion, then the farmer is the number one partner with tourism,” said the Minister.

The Minister congratulated the participants of the (F2F) program and reminded them of the importance to share best practices to further strengthen regional growth in Agriculture and Tourism industries.

“I want to congratulate you for having this dialogue, and to implore you to be as innovative as you can. What you are about to do is not about food safety in the broadest sense, but it is about economics and resilience that you are building in the regions that you represent.

The capacity we are trying to build, to generate more of what the visitors need within the area, is the insurance that we are providing for higher level of retention of the dollars that are earned,” he said.

Since 1991, Partners’ Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) program has been transforming lives in over 30 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia by connecting specialized volunteers from the United States with farmers, cooperatives, agribusinesses, extension services, government agencies and other institutions.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jamaica Ministry of Tourism, Corporate Communications, 64 Knutsford Boulevard, Kingston 5, Tel: 920-4926-30, Fax: 920-4944

Nepalese Global Tourism Resilience Centre to be Opened in April 2020

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The Jamaica Tourism Minister, Hon Edmund Bartlett, says April 2020 is the date earmarked to officially open the Satellite Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre in Nepal. The announcement follows Minister Bartlett’s visit to Nepal to conclude discussions for a Memorandum of Understanding to establish the Centre.

“The establishment of this new Satellite Centre in Nepal is another exciting step towards global resilience building through research and real-time information sharing. The Centre will be located at the Tribhuvan University, which houses approximately 200,000 students who will contribute greatly to the knowledge base and development of best practices for the region,” said Minister Bartlett.

The aim of establishing global Satellite Tourism Resilience Centres is to create a network of think tanks that will develop solutions to global disruptions that impact the tourism industry. These disruptions include climatic events such as hurricanes and earthquakes, terrorism and cybercrime, among others.

Minister Bartlett added that “I am also pleased that the GTRCM has been receiving calls from other countries such as China, Cambodia, Myanmar and India to establish more of these Satellite Centres and we will now begin discussions for the framework to open these Centres. The calls for these Centres to be established, speaks to a global need to ensure the viability of the tourism industry through resilience building.”

The establishment of the Satellite Centre in Nepal follows the recent establishment of a Satellite Centre in Kenya. Additionally, the GTRCM will also be establishing Satellite Centres in Seychelles, South Africa, Nigeria, and Morocco to expand its reach within the continent.

In highlighting the significance of this new Centre, Executive Director of the GTRCM, Professor Lloyd Waller noted that “The presence of a GTRCM in Nepal extends the reach and scope of the Centre to be able to examine and address tourism resilience issues in Asia, while at the same time enabling Centres in other regions of the world to access expertise from Asia.”

The GTRCM, which was first announced in 2017, operates in a global context that is characterized by not only new challenges but also new opportunities for tourism in an effort to improve the tourism product as well as to ensure the sustainability of tourism globally.

The ultimate purpose of the Centre is to assist destination preparedness, management, and recovery from disruptions and/or crises that impact tourism and threaten economies and livelihoods globally.

The Minister is expected to return from Nepal on Sunday, January 5, 2020.

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MEDIA CONTACT: Jamaica Ministry of Tourism, Corporate Communications, 64 Knutsford Boulevard, Kingston 5, Tel: 920-4926-30, Fax: 920-4944

J$250 Million to Start Tourism Workers’ Pension Fund in January, says Bartlett

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Jamaica Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says J$250 million will be used to ensure the start of the highly anticipated Tourism Workers’ Pension Scheme next month. This forms part of the government’s effort to seed the fund to meet the deadline of a January 2020 start date for the pension scheme.

Minister Bartlett, who made the announcement at a pension sensitization session with hotel workers at Royalton Negril today, said “We are well on our way to implementing the pension scheme and currently the Board of Trustees is in the process of procuring a Fund Manager and Fund Administrator.

As soon as the Fund Manager has been appointed, 250 million will be disbursed to seed the fund so that if workers have contributed for only 5years and reach their retirement age of 65 they will get a guaranteed minimum pension.”

The Ministry of Tourism has been carrying out pension sensitization sessions across the island to update tourism workers on the next steps of the pension scheme. Over 400 workers attended the session at the Royalton Hotel and approximately 100 workers attended the session at the RIU Hotel, both in Negril.

The Tourism Workers’ Pension Scheme is designed to cover all workers ages 18-59 year in the tourism sector, whether permanent, contract or self-employed. This includes hotel workers as well as persons employed in other tourism subsectors such as craft vendors, tour operators, red cap porters, contract carriage operators and workers at attractions.

In highlighting the significance of the pension scheme, Minister Bartlett added that, “This landmark Tourism Workers’ Pension Scheme is a carefully strategized arrangement that forms part of the Ministry’s overall human capital development strategy in the sector. The pension scheme is the final cap in that strategy to ensure a social security safety net for our workers at retirement.”

Registration for Tourism Workers’ Pension Scheme is scheduled to begin in January 2020.

J$250 Million to Start Jamaica Tourism Workers’ Pension Fund in January, says Bartlett
A section of the over 400 workers at the Royalton Hotel in Negril during the pension sensitization session haled there today. The session forms part of Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett’s effort to update workers on the next stage of the Tourism Worker’s Pension Scheme which will be implemented next month.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jamaica Ministry of Tourism, Corporate Communications, 64 Knutsford Boulevard, Kingston 5, Tel: 920-4926-30, Fax: 920-4944

Bartlett to Invite Miss World Finalists to Visit Jamaica

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Jamaica Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says that Jamaica will be extending invitations to Miss World finalists Miss Nigeria, Nyekachi Douglas and Miss India, Suman Rao, following Jamaica’s Toni-Ann Singh’s historic win on Saturday.

Speaking at the second annual Golden Tourism Day Awards, held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre yesterday, the Tourism Minister said that, “This weekend was a very powerful one for us in Jamaica… Our very own Toni-Ann Singh was named the beauty of the world.”

He added that, in celebration of this, “ the Director of Tourism, the Chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board and I will collaborate with Minister Grange to invite not just Miss Nigeria who showed love and friendship but also Miss India, because we think it will be wonderful to have them in Jamaica.”

The Minister noted that the Government would make the necessary arrangements to host the beauty contestants, and will ensure that they “have the best vacation that they could hope for, in the best destination that they could ever think of, and to also make sure that Jamaica remains top of mind.”

Miss Nigeria, Nyekachi Douglas rose to popularity, because of her reaction to Singh’s win in London.  The reaction, which has since gone viral, had millions of social media users sharing that the genuine show of joy for Miss Jamaica’s win, is an example of how friends should support each other.

In an Instagram video after the competition, she described Singh as “amazing” and a big supporter of her fellow contestants.

Singh is the 69th Miss World and 4th Jamaican to take the title.  Miss World France, Ophely Mezino was the runner up, and Miss World India, Suman Rao placed third at the event that saw contestants from 111 countries competing in London for the crown.

“We are changing our tagline to ‘Jamaica the heartbeat of the world’, and in no other way was it expressed than in London when Toni-Ann became Miss World, becoming the 4th Jamaican to be so accorded,” he said.

The Minister made the announcement during second Golden Tourism Day Awards, which was organized by the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) and the Ministry of Tourism. The gala event recognizes Tourism workers who have given 50 years or more of service to the industry.

Some 34 awardees who have served the industry as raft captains, craft traders, ground transportation operators, hoteliers, in-bond store operators, tour operators and Red Cap Porters were lauded for their remarkable contribution.

“We love you, we respect you and we honor you tonight. This process of sighting good work – identifying [awardees] first of all, then positioning and celebrating you is critical. Tonight says to you that a grateful nation of people honour your work, respects your efforts and wish you well,” said Bartlett to the awardees.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jamaica Ministry of Tourism, Corporate Communications, 64 Knutsford Boulevard, Kingston 5, Tel: 920-4926-30, Fax: 920-4944

Jamaica now most-connected country from South America

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Jamaica Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, announced a new flight from Lima, Peru, to Montego Bay that was inaugurated this morning.

Minister Bartlett and Minister Vasquez completed the protocols at the Lima airport.

The Lima hub is one of the largest in South America and will make Jamaica the most-connected country from South America in the English-speaking Caribbean. LATAM is the largest airline in South America.

The flight will begin a 3-day rotation today with 174 passengers and crew on board.

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Jamaica now most-connected country from South America
Jamaica now most-connected country from South America

MEDIA CONTACT: Jamaica Ministry of Tourism, Corporate Communications, 64 Knutsford Boulevard, Kingston 5, Tel: 920-4926-30, Fax: 920-4944

Minister Bartlett: Tourism Working Group report to help shape new architecture for subsectors

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Jamaica’s Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has announced that findings from the just concluded Tourism Working Group (TWG) report are ready and will be used to help shape a new architecture for the tourism subsectors.

The Tourism Working Group, established in July 2018 and lead by PricewaterhouseCoopers Senior Executive, Wilfred Baghaloo, was set up to review a range of issues within the sector including the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA), work permits, ground transportation and entertainment, among others.

The intent of the report is to suggest the way forward for the industry and provide a series of recommendations for strong legislative and policy reforms.

Minister Bartlett, who made the announcement yesterday at a TWG meeting said, “We recognize that global changes in the industry have impacted the business arrangements for some of our indigenous players in various subsectors. The report has highlighted the need for us to retro fit and re-examine our own processes and see how our practices and models are faring against the new disruptive business models.”

The report includes over fifty (50) recommendations that can assist in informing national policies to build stronger partnerships and support for Jamaican businesses.

“Since we established the TWG, there has been several key meetings with foreign and local stakeholders as well as research on other tourism destinations to understand their policy framework.

This is with a view to creating a new architecture that will help build capacity for our suppliers to compete more effectively in an ever changing industry so they can do more and earn more,” added Minister Bartlett.

Co-Chairman of the TWG, Wilfred Baghaloo anticipates that “The next phase of the project will involve consultations among the various ministries and enactment of policies at the local level. Thereafter, there may be meetings with international representatives to discuss the way forward.”

The Minister noted that the findings would be reviewed thoroughly and a number of consultations would take place with relevant stakeholders before the findings are released to the public and any action is taken.

“We are happy that you were able to apply the level of rigour to the investigations which have now concluded with this document. We are excited to peruse it and look carefully on how we can apply some of the recommendations that you have made. We need to have further discussions with stakeholders, because we recognise that it is not going to be a one-glove fit all situation, but we certainly want to fit it right so that we protect the local sector, which is critical to us,” said Minister Bartlett.

He expressed gratitude to the team, which is chaired by Tourism Linkages Council head and Hotelier, Adam Stewart. As well as members such as: Prominent Business leaders, Michael McMorris and Godfrey Dyer; Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), President, Omar Robinson and Senior Executive, Nicola Madden-Greig; President of the Jamaica Cooperative Automobile and Limousine Services (JCAL), Brian Thelwell.

Other members include: Jamaica Vacations, Chairman, Bert Wright; National Craft Traders and Producers Association, President, Melody Haughton-Adams; Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), Executive Director, Dr. Andrew Spencer and representatives from the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport; Ministry of Labour and Social Security; Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) and the Ministry of Tourism.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jamaica Ministry of Tourism, Corporate Communications, 64 Knutsford Boulevard, Kingston 5, Tel: 920-4926-30, Fax: 920-4944