Bartlett maps Tourism 3.0 in St James for wider local ownership, steadier visitor-economy supplies

Hon. Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism, says the Government will press ahead with a Tourism 3.0 programme intended to widen Jamaican ownership of the trade, shore up how goods reach hotels and attractions, and widen the slice of sector revenue that reaches residents.

Outlining the policy thrust, he said tourism should underpin national economic stability as well as broader structural renewal, with closer cooperation between the visitor economy and domestic growers, manufacturers, and support services.

He spoke on Thursday, 7 May, at the eleventh Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) Speed Networking session, hosted at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St. James.

Mr. Bartlett said Jamaica is opening a fresh chapter in how it plans the visitor economy after Hurricane Melissa.

"Melissa came. Melissa bent us… badly bent, yes, but she didn't break us, and because she didn't break us, we have bounced forward with a new purpose, with a new determination to reimagine ourselves and to reposition this great industry to be a huge driver, not of economic transformation only but of economic security for the people of Jamaica," he said.

The Minister said Tourism 3.0 would make the needs of people in Jamaica the first reference point when shaping how the industry scales.

"We are going to do it under the rubric of local first, meaning to say that tourism must be first for the people of Jamaica and then for our guests that we bring internationally to our shores," Mr. Bartlett added.

He noted that, while Jamaica has widened tourism linkages over time, a large share of goods and services consumed by the sector still comes from abroad because local production capacity remains short of demand.

Mr. Bartlett said the administration will lean on stronger laws, tax and spending tools, and regulatory steps so domestic suppliers can raise volumes and meet delivery schedules more dependably.

"We need sufficiency of supplies. We need reliability of supplies. We can't wake up one morning and say to the guests, 2,000 of them in the hotel, that there's no eggs because the farmer didn't turn up with the eggs," he said.

The Minister added that talks are already taking place with banks on bespoke lending packages for businesses tied to tourism.

Ryan Parkes, incoming chairman of the TEF, said the fund will remain integral to how the Ministry carries its sector strategy.

"We are at an inflection point in our history where the Minister's vision and that of the Ministry of Tourism is to reimagine Jamaica's tourism product," Mr. Parkes said.

He said the TEF will devote sustained attention to training workers and reinforcing tourism linkages so Jamaica can compete more strongly overseas.

"As we reimagine our tourism product, we at the Tourism Enhancement Fund will be playing our part in working closely with all the components that form part of what we call tourism linkage, to ensure that we have the best product to offer the world," Mr. Parkes added.