Bartlett targets 50-60% retention of tourism earnings

Jamaica must significantly increase the amount of tourism earnings retained within the local economy by expanding the country’s supply capacity and strengthening local ownership within the industry, says Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett.
 

“We are somewhere close to 40 per cent now, but we need to go to 50, 60 per cent. India has 60 per cent. They are the highest in the world,” Bartlett said last week, noting that Jamaica currently retains a higher percentage of tourism earnings than many countries in the region but pointed out that greater improvement is needed.
 

He said the retention level of the tourism dollar in the region averages about 15 cents of every tourism dollar. "Jamaica is ahead of the pack, just below the Dominican Republic, but we need to go further," the minister said while addressing the Tourism Enhancement Fund Speed Networking Event at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James last Thursday. 

Bartlett said increasing local production and entrepreneurial participation will be critical to achieving that target.
 

Bartlett argued that too much of the wealth generated by tourism continues to leave the region, as Caribbean countries remain heavily dependent on imported goods and services.

He said he has been leading regional discussions on improving tourism’s supply side to ensure Caribbean people benefit more directly from the sector.

“I have been asked to chair their (Caribbean Tourism Organization) subcommittee on the supply side, which is what we’ve been talking about here in Jamaica,” the minister said.

He said the Inter-American Development Bank has agreed to fund a study on tourism demand in the Caribbean. 

He underscored that the greatest economic opportunities in tourism lie beyond hotel rooms and instead exist within the broader network of goods and services required to sustain the industry.

“The wealth of tourism is in the supply side. It’s what the people eat, it’s what they wear, it’s the vehicles that they drive in, it’s the transportation arrangements that are provided and it’s the attractions all around,” he said.

-JIS News

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