Editorial | Reimagining tourism 

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has announced a planned overhaul of Jamaica’s legislative framework, which will replace the 72-year-old Tourist Board Act with a new Tourism Authority Act. The overhaul, Mr Bartlett says, is to modernise the industry, strengthen local linkages, and ensure higher retention of tourism earnings.

These are ideals that almost anyone can support. This newspaper, however, looks forward to the details of the minister’s plans and how the government proposes to engage stakeholders, for just as important is what may be captured in any law is how legislative intent is translated into appropriate policies and effectively implemented.

For decades, the success of Jamaica’s tourism industry has been measured by a simple metric: “heads on beds”. More visitors, more hotel rooms occupied, more arrivals through the airports and cruise ports. While these indicators remain important, they are no longer sufficient. If tourism is to truly transform Jamaica’s economy over the next decade, the country must reimagine the sector, not simply as a hospitality industry, but as a catalyst for broad-based national development.

Tourism must become the engine that powers manufacturing, agribusiness, technology, entertainment, logistics and culture. It must evolve from an enclave economy into an integrated ecosystem that creates opportunities for Jamaican businesses, entrepreneurs and communities. 

Countries including Maldives, Costa Rica, Rwanda, and Nepal have successfully developed tourism products — such as community-based guesthouses, eco-tourism, and conservation trekking — that prioritise local economic benefit and empowerment. These models ensure that revenue stays in local communities rather than just international corporations.

Jamaica, the government says, retains in the domestic economy 40 per cent of the US$4.6 billion the island grosses from tourism. By comparison, the Dominican Republic retains between 50 and 60 per cent through stronger domestic supply chains and deeper local integration. That gap represents billions of dollars in lost economic opportunity for Jamaica every year.

The challenge, therefore, is not simply attracting more tourists, but also ensuring that more of every tourism dollar circulates within the Jamaican economy before leaving its shores.

One area where meaningful progress has already begun is agricultural linkages. The Agri-Linkages Exchange (ALEX) platform, which connects farmers directly with hotel buyers, has demonstrated what is possible. The initiative has already generated over J$1 billion in sales, proving that local sourcing can work at scale when systems are properly designed.

This model should now be expanded aggressively. Tax incentives granted to tourism enterprises should increasingly be tied to measurable local sourcing requirements. Hotels benefiting from generous concessions should demonstrate stronger procurement from Jamaican farmers, manufacturers, creatives and service providers. Incentives should reward integration, not import dependence.  But this requires a domestic manufacturing sector that is efficient and competitive - something to which Mr Bartlett’s so-called Tourism 3.0 reform must also pay attention. 

The same approach applies to small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Tourism linkages have the potential to become one of the largest drivers of SME growth, but only if access to financing improves dramatically. Existing initiatives such as EXIM Bank financing for tourism SMEs are important first steps, but they must be scaled significantly to help local businesses meet the quality, volume and certification requirements of major hotel chains.

Too many Jamaican businesses remain locked out of tourism supply chains, not because demand does not exist, but because supply-side constraints remain unresolved. This is where the role of the Tourism Linkages Council must evolve. For years, much of the focus has been on researching tourism demand. The more urgent priority now is removing the barriers preventing local suppliers from participating in the industry.

SMEs need support with packaging, standards certification, logistics, financing, digital systems and production scaling. More importantly, they need assistance navigating not only local hotel procurement systems, but also the regional and international supply chains of global hotel brands operating in Jamaica. If Jamaican businesses can become approved suppliers within these wider networks, the export opportunities become enormous.

At the same time, Jamaica’s tourism product itself requires reinvention.  The all-inclusive enclave model played an important role in the country’s tourism expansion over the past several decades. It generated investment, employment and foreign exchange earnings. 

But the global tourism market is changing rapidly, and the traditional enclave model has increasingly outlived its useful life as the dominant paradigm.

Today’s travellers, especially younger and independent ones, are searching for authentic local experiences. They want culture, music, food, nature, heritage and community connection. Jamaica is uniquely positioned to deliver exactly that.

Few countries possess Jamaica’s combination of global musical influence, culinary richness, cultural creativity and untouched natural spaces. From community tourism and eco-lodges to culinary trails, wellness retreats, heritage districts and locally owned attractions, Jamaica has enormous untapped potential beyond the traditional resort corridor.  More locally owned attractions and tourism experiences would also ensure that tourism wealth spreads more broadly across communities rather than remaining concentrated within large foreign-owned enclaves.

Cruise tourism also requires serious reassessment. Jamaica currently charges among the lowest cruise passenger head taxes in the region — approximately US$2 per passenger. Given the environmental, infrastructural and social pressures associated with cruise tourism, this is no longer sustainable. Raising head taxes to between US$5 and US$10 per passenger would create additional fiscal space for destination improvement, environmental protection and community development.

But Jamaica cannot pursue this alone. Cruise lines possess enormous bargaining power, and any meaningful reform would require coordinated regional action among Caribbean destinations to avoid competitive undercutting.

None of these ideas is entirely new. Variations on them have been discussed for years in policy circles, academic studies and private sector forums. What has changed is the urgency.