Public access to all beaches will kill Jamaica’s tourism product

The Government would be misguided to implement full public access to all beaches in Jamaica.

After Category 5 Hurricane Melissa decimated the tourism product, such a move would render  the country’s top foreign exchange earner moribund.

Yes, the Government appears to be lending an ear to a hodgepodge of Rastas, community leaders, weed heads and those who say “ Babylon is exploiting Jamaicans”, but let’s look at reality.

Jamaica has no meaningful manufacturing sector, no extractive commodities (unlike Trinidad, Guyana and Suriname) that can be a pillar of the economy and provide meaningful and plentiful jobs. It is subject more than most to the vagaries and whims of the American economy. More than two-thirds of the country’s tourists come from North America.

They primarily come for sunshine and the beach and do not want to be hassled. Hoteliers have to ensure that it remains the case. 

It’s all very well being politically correct, but with the tourism industry bringing in over US$4 billion a year and accounting for 30 per cent of GDP, those numbers are likely to be halved if the beaches were open to the public.

Over the last thirty years, we have had local hotel players define the tourism product with all-inclusive hotels. Then came the Spanish, and now the Mexicans and other players from across the world. They all see a viable business with a minimum of 14 per cent return on investment with a tried, tested and successful model.

Jamaica needs to attract foreign investment, which has fallen over recent years.  It is unlikely that hotel operators will look favourably upon Jamaica if they had to contend with all sorts traipsing the beaches.

Let’s be blunt-it won’t just stop at the beaches. People will feel entitled to come into the hotels, and there will be all manner of drama as they cause mischief.

Now you have this European documentary hell-bent on championing all-access beaches and maintains the government is doing Jamaicans an injustice by not allowing them to enjoy their own beaches.

Really?

Once the project is wrapped, they will fly back to the comfort and security of their First World homes in countries which have developed economies while they help to create ours.

Some point the finger, admonishing the JTB, the Ministry of Tourism and the JHTA. They say they are silent on the subject, which is tantamount to restricting the rights of Jamaicans.

If you have an asset, you want it performing at full capacity. Your major industries should buttress the economy, not hinder it.

Maybe there needs to be a public education programme on the importance of tourism to Jamaica’s economy and welfare.  Why strangle the goose that lays the golden egg? 

 Jamaica Beach Birthright Environment Movement (JABBEM) is short-sighted and needs to see the bigger picture. Perhaps it can suggest another industry that can contribute over US$4 billion to a US $20 billion economy.

The multiplier effect of Jamaica’s tourism product should not be discounted. Agriculture, suppliers, and telecoms operators all depend upon it. It employs some  190,000 people directly and a further 360,000 indirectly. It drives 15 per cent of all construction activity.

It isn’t difficult to see the picture. 

Minister Matthew Samuda, who serves in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, has rubbished JABBEM’s spurious claim that only 1 per cent of Jamaica’s beaches remain accessible to the public. He went on to say that 21 per cent of Jamaica’s coastline is accessible to the public and that the Government has made a commitment to invest in beach access with roads and other facilities.  There are places where Jamaicans can go and enjoy the beach.

If an investor is slapping down us$250 million plus on resorts, they will expect certain guarantees and one for sure will be private beaches for their guests.

There is the documentary “Beach Inna Bondage- The fight for Jamaica’s coastline” doing the rounds. It is directed by Emiel Martens and Elsie Vermeer in collaboration with JABBEM. It may or may not win a couple of awards from some of the small film festivals across Europe but it will not fundamentally discredit Jamaica’s tourism product which is evolving. Some may chant, wave their hands in the air, puff on a spliff or two, swig on a brown ale but at the end of the day, a major component of Jamaica’s economy will stand, after all, Jamaica depends on services. Beaches are an essential part of the tourism service product.