Bartlett unveils tourism supply hub to cut leakages

WESTERN BUREAU:

The Government is moving to establish a Tourism Supply Logistics Centre as part of a major push to increase local participation in Jamaica's tourism industry and reduce the billions of dollars that leave the economy through imports each year.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett made the announcement while making his contribution to the 2026-2027 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives recently, describing the proposed facility as the operating system for the supply side of the tourism economy and a critical component of the Government's Tourism 3.0 strategy.

The centre is expected to become Jamaica's fifth industry-specific Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and will be developed through collaboration involving the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining.

"For too long, too much tourism value has leaked out of small island economies before transforming the lives of local people," Bartlett said as he outlined plans to strengthen linkages between tourism and other productive sectors.

According to the minister, the logistics centre will support warehousing, cold-chain storage, inventory planning, cargo consolidation, procurement support, trade facilitation and digital demand planning. It is intended to create a more reliable and efficient supply network connecting hotels, attractions, farms, factories, agro-processors, distributors and community producers.

Bartlett said the project represents a fundamental shift in how tourism is integrated into the wider economy.

"It must be seen as more than a warehouse," he told Parliament.

The minister argued that tourism must evolve from being simply a sector where goods and services are consumed to one where a greater share of products and services are produced, supplied and owned by Jamaicans.

He said the facility would help move small businesses from the margins of the tourism value chain into the centre of economic opportunity by making it easier for local suppliers to access markets and meet the needs of hotels, attractions and other tourism enterprises.

Bartlett also disclosed that discussions are already under way with the Caribbean Tourism Organization and the Inter-American Development Bank regarding a broader regional tourism logistics strategy and the funding of a study to help shape a Caribbean-wide approach.

In time, he said the centre could position Jamaica as part of a stronger and more integrated regional tourism supply platform.

The minister said the expected benefits include increased local procurement, reduced dependence on imports, stronger sourcing from Jamaican suppliers, expanded opportunities for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, greater farm-to-hotel sales and increased use of locally manufactured goods.

"The measurable impact will be increased local procurement, reduced import leakage, stronger local sourcing rates, more Jamaican suppliers registered and certified, more MSMEs contracted by tourism businesses, higher farm-to-hotel sales, increased use of Jamaican-made goods, expanded agro-processing and manufacturing opportunities, stronger community income, and greater domestic retention of tourism earnings," Bartlett said.

The initiative forms part of Tourism 3.0, Bartlett's new development framework for the sector, which seeks to deepen linkages between tourism and industries such as agriculture, manufacturing, culture, logistics and technology while ensuring more of tourism's economic benefits remain in Jamaican hands. 

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com