Gov't warns against disrupting significant progress within tourism industry

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Apr 19, CMC -Tourism Minister  Edmund Bartlett has warned stakeholders that as Jamaica experiences a significant increase in its recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic, disorder and poor practises will not be allowed to disrupt the progress being made in the vital tourism industry.

In addition, he has announced that approximately 20,000 new rooms are set to come on stream over the next five to 10 years and that 8,000 hospitality workers are paying into the Tourism Workers Pension Scheme, with over $550 million. in contributions, to date. 

Speaking during the 2023/24 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Bartlett said that  during the months January to March this year, Jamaica welcomed a record 1,185,000 visitors, a 94.4 per cent increase over the same period last year.

“It’s a good thing, Madame Speaker, that so many more people are coming into the tourism space. But it also can be a bad thing if disorder and criminality and poor practises are made to creep in and provide a disruption of the destination assurance that we offer to our visitors.”

Bartlett noted that it takes one bad incident to destroy the destination “not just for weeks but for years”.

“I think we have a duty to ensure that persons entering the space follow the rules and are respectful of the importance of law and order… . I think that we have to take a strong position [and] stand up for good law and order in this society.”

Recently, the Tourism Product Development Company Limited (TPDCo) announced that it has moved to put a stop to illegal rafting on the White River in St Ann and has partnered with the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) in terminating the illegal activity.

The TPDCo is also making efforts to regularise illegal operators who need assistance in being brought into conformity with the laws and regulations governing the sector.

Bartlett said that, overall, Jamaica continues to be a safe place for tourists.

“Our record of visitor safety is enviable across the world with a record of 0.1 per cent of all the crimes committed [being] against our visitors,” he told legislators, adding that approximately  20,000 new rooms are to  come on stream over the next five to 10 years.

He said that these additional rooms will be located in all the parishes that will benefit the various communities..

“It’s not just about hotels here now, it’s about creating a whole ecosystem in Paradise, in Westmoreland,” he said, for example, adding that he is also holding discussions with investors from the Dominican Republic.

“They were here some weeks ago and they want to come now and look at creating a whole village, a tourism village, like the one they have in the Dominican Republic,” he said.

Bartlett told the Parliament that he was also pleased that an estimated 8,000 hospitality workers are paying into the Tourism Workers Pension Scheme, with over $550 million in contributions, to date.

The government has committed over one billion dollars to the scheme, and the final tranche of J$50 million will be paid in the new fiscal year.

Bartlett said that in the next five years, when the first cohort of beneficiaries will come, “that fund would have [reached] well over J$10 billion, and then we begin to see the unfolding of a pool of funds that will be there for investments, so that we can have growth”.

The Tourism Workers Pension Scheme was launched in 2022. The scheme is designed to cover all workers in the tourism sector, regardless of their employment status or age, and it includes hotel workers, craft vendors, tour operators, red-cap porters, contract carriage operators and workers at attractions.

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