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TEF to nurture new and start-up tourism enterprises – Bartlett

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As part of efforts to boost the competitiveness of the local tourism product, which has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Tourism will be developing an Innovation-based Tourism Incubator (ITI). The initiative, led by the Tourism Enhancement Fund, will support entrepreneurs in converting innovative ideas into viable businesses.

Jamaica Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett made the announcement during his Sectoral Debate closing presentation in Gordon House recently under the theme: Recovering Faster, Stronger and Better.

“We believe that tourism is driven by ideas and these ideas have the power to drive the creation of experiences. The ability to convert ideas into material goods and services is the key to differentiating your destination…. And so, the Ministry of Tourism intends to establish a tourism incubator to nurture new and start-up enterprises,” said Minister Bartlett.

This Innovation-Based Business Incubator will provide a unique and highly flexible combination of services, including business support services and infrastructure. It will also nurture these entrepreneurs and support them through the early stages of development and execution.

To deliver these services, TEF will be working with existing stakeholders, but will also seek to expand the list of potential partners. These include, the University of Technology Jamaica, the University of the West Indies (Mona), Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) and Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO).

“We will also be seeking partnerships for the provision of grants and loans to support the development and commercialization of ideas generated from the incubator,” said the Minister. 

The TEF will then take decisive steps by 2023 to foster innovative ideas on how Jamaica can differentiate the destination from our competition.

The business ideas will be assessed based on various criteria. The ITI will only accept ideas that are an innovation and will enhance the tourism sector. The ITI will also only support original ideas that are useful, or practical in nature from its function to its design.  The idea must also have a significant effect on the tourism industry.

“I want to make it clear that the idea does not have to be an invention. It is not necessarily bringing new things from scratch but is about adding value to what you have. Be creative and ensure that you can do more with what you have,” said Bartlett.

The initiative will start with an open call to all members of the public who have ideas for new tourism products or services, to submit their ideas for review by a panel. Successful candidates will be invited to a boot camp, which will provide participants with the training and support needed to develop their business idea, business model and business plan; develop minimum viable products (MVPs) etc. and to boost the chances of arriving at an effective start-up.

They will then be invited to participate in a “Shark Tank” style Investor Selection Event, to make their product/service pitch to the panelists, who will include potential investors. The ITI will operate virtually and execute its mandate for each entrepreneur over a 2-year period.

“If the investors are not interested, we will then direct the entrepreneurs to the EXIM Bank where we have invested $1 billion to enable loans for small and medium tourism enterprises. They will also have the option to seek assistance from the Jamaica National Bank, where we have $200 million for a similar purpose,” said the Minister.

“In other words we are saying, incentivize ideas, remove the need for collateral where young people have no assets but have ideas and let us convert ideas into practical goods that can change the lives of the people of our country,” he added.

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MEDIA CONTACT:

Corporate Communications Division

Ministry of Tourism

64 Knutsford Boulevard

Kingston 5

Telephone: 920-4924,

Fax: 906-019

Or

Kingsley Roberts

Senior Director, Corporate Communications

Ministry of Tourism

64 Knutsford Boulevard

Kingston 5

Tel: 920-4926-30, ext.: 5990

Cell: (876) 505-6118

Fax: 920-4944

Jamaica: Linkages increasing opportunities for Small Tourism Suppliers

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A new marketing gateway is being opened by way of the tourism linkages strategy, for the “the ordinary Jamaican” to benefit from dollar resources of the growing industry.

An indication of this working was given by Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett yesterday as he delivered the keynote address at a ceremony renaming a street in honor of Hon. Godfrey Dyer. As of yesterday, the Sunset Boulevard which links directly with the Sangster International Airport, is to be known as Godfrey Dyer Boulevard.

Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett (left) shares a light moment with Chairman of the Tourism Enhancement Fund, Hon Godfrey Dyer (center) and Mayor of Montego Bay, Councilor Homer Davis, both of whom welcomed him for Thursday’s ceremony to rename Sunset Boulevard, Godfrey Dyer Boulevard, in honor of Mr. Dyer for his contribution to the development of the city

Regarding the dollar-earning plan, Minister Bartlett divulged that “We’re looking at how to make the ordinary Jamaican who lives within the areas of the hotels to become suppliers of the inputs of tourism.”

The initiative is evolving in Lilliput, St James, home of the Iberostar Hotels. According to Minister Bartlett, there “small suppliers, using old tires, discarded pans and other receptacles and borrowing on the technology of hydroponics, are now producing tomatoes and bell peppers that are now ready for the market, and Iberostar is ready to buy.”

The Tourism Minister said while that may seem to be a little thing, “it is big thing because once that is replicated you will find that the ordinary man who thought that living around the hotel only meant working for the hotel, is now going to find that he can be a big supplier to the hotel that is across the road from him.” That, he said, was a “big thing for inclusiveness in terms of this industry.”

Mr. Dyer and the Tourism Linkages Network, which falls under the Tourism Enhancement Fund, were commended for this innovation “because it is going to be a big game-changer in terms of the ability to retain the dollar that we earn in tourism in the communities that are around the tourism area.”

Regarding Mr. Dyer, Minister Bartlett catalogued an encyclopedia of his achievements and lauded him for a lifetime of unstinting service in both the public and private sectors. He said the event was really about extolling Mr Dyer’s virtues “and who has dedicated himself and his life to the building and enhancing of this great city of Montego Bay.”

Having played a pivotal role in the creation of the Tourism Enhancement Fund while serving as president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourism Association, Mr Dyer is now in his second term as chairman of TEF. Under his Chairmanship Minister Bartlett declared, “Godfrey has done a tremendous job with the fund especially as it relates to the level of development it has supported.”

Montego Bay, regarded as the main pillar of the island’s tourism industry, has seen more development than any other entity, said Mr Bartlett. “Absolutely no entity has provided more capital injection in the development of Montego Bay than the Tourism Enhancement Fund under the chairmanship of Godfrey Dyer,” he said.

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

Grange Pen to get a J$960 million infrastructural upgrade

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The Jamaica Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) is investing a little under $J1 billion for the Resort Squatter Settlements Upgrade Project for the community of Grange Pen in St. James.

The Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) will oversee the infrastructural upgrade for the regularization of 535 households in the community. This is equivalent to approximately 8000 square feet per lot.

Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony for the project on March 29, Tourism Minister and Member of Parliament for the area, Hon. Edmund Bartlett said the project was started in 2010 as part of the then Government’s mission to provide housing solutions for workers in the tourism industry through the TEF.

“We are going to be building a level of development that you have never seen before in this parish…We have proposals for participants, RFPs [request for proposals]out for public-private participation for us to build those houses for the people – primarily workers of the tourism industry,” said the Minister.

The general scope of works, which will take place over a 24-month period, includes: road scribing and paving, draining infrastructure, construction of a sewage treatment plant, water supply connection to the National Water Commission, electricity distribution, and land titling.

A highway will also be created from Grange Pen through Barrett Hall to Greenwood, signaling the next phase of the development for the area. The Minister also shared that upon completion, the community of Grange Pen will be renamed.

In his first ever public address as Minister of Economic Growth and Job Creation, with responsibility for housing, Senator the Hon. Pearnel Charles Junior added that, “it is perhaps everyone’s dream to own their own home…It is my responsibility now to be the one to ensure that I drive the processes of accountability to make sure that we are providing the housing that is necessary to all communities across this country.”

He also stated that it is the Government’s goal to provide for low to middle income earners by “giving them improved access to mortgages, so that they can be able to go through the financing that is required to access the housing that will be provided across communities.”

The Tourism Minister also announced that a major development is in the works for Lilliput which will have significant economic benefits for the people in Montego Bay.

“We have concluded much discussions, the purchase of the land has been completed in phase 1 and phase 2 is also being completed with the Rolling’s family. We will have close to 4000 additional rooms which will require a level of service from the people in this area.

The way forward for us is an integrated, involved and inclusive tourism where the hotel developments and the communities are going to be one in the same,” said Minister Bartlett.

Chairman of the HAJ Norman Brown and Councillor Anthony Murray from the St James Municipal Corporation welcomed the development project in Grange Pen as in important initiative which will drastically transform the community.

As part of efforts to improve the look and feel of the product, the Ministry of Tourism, through the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) has so far invested J$6 billion in Montego Bay and its environs. The work carried out by the TEF includes road rehabilitation, drain cleaning and housing solutions.

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