In his contribution to this year’s Budget Debate, Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett made the case for using tourism as a vehicle for economic growth by seeking linkages with other sectors of the economy.

He drew attention to the fact that the downturn in the global economy brought on by the financial crisis in the United States- Jamaica’s largest source market would suggest that Jamaica’s tourism product would be severely impacted.

“However we saw 1.8 million arrivals in 2009 and for this year we are projecting 2 million visitors which would be an all time high for Jamaica.”

Although Jamaica has done well while the rest of the Caribbean has stuttered, he said close attention must be paid to Cuba.

“In addition to the global economic challenges, we cannot ignore the strong competition that we face regionally. For example we must be mindful of the fact that once the United States lifts its 47-year travel band on Cuba that country will be competing for the same US market share. In anticipation of this, Cuba is expected to expand its capacity of about 50,000 rooms with groundbreaking scheduled for at least nine hotels in 2010.

Looking to 2010, Bartlett is projecting growth of 6 per cent. The winter season has recorded 700,000 visitors with March’s figure up 12.7 per cent on last year. “Our goal for this year is to welcome 2 million visitors and to have gross earnings of US$2.06 billion.”

He used the opportunity in Parliament to make the connection between tourism and other sectors of the economy.

A resurgent Jamaica Producers says that the local tourism sector accounts for 12 per cent of its fresh produce sales. Chief Executive Officer of Wisynco Wiiliam Mahfood, says he is seeing stellar consumption and sales in the month of March fueled by full occupancy of the country’s hotels.

Grace Foods’ CEO Irwin Burton, points out that tourism accounts for 9 per cent of its food and drink sales.

“It is not only commendable to buy local but it creates linkages that can only benefit our economy. I have heard it said that too much emphasis is placed on arrivals and scant regard is paid to tourism spend. I would contend that you cannot generate spend if you do not have adequate visitor arrivals and the infrastructure to accomodate a diversified tourism product. It is imperative that the tourism dollar trickles down, indeed percolates through the wider economy and does not become too concentrated in just a few pockets.”

The minister went on to add that tourism has traditionally been viewed as a demand rather than a supply driven industry but that can no longer be the whole story. With Jamaica now able to accommodate 2 million visitors a year, the question is can ” we meet visitor demands and can our indigenous industries supply them? It stands to reason that if our homegrown firms can supply a growing torism industry the entire economy can benefit.

“In other words, the banana farmer who has lost his competitive edge in Europe can sell his product in Montego Bay. But in order to profit from this opportunity, our companies must be up for the challenge, paying particular attention to quality and cost competitiveness. As a country we must now endeavour to ensure that the demand created by the tourism sector can be met by local production. In essence tourism can create a third market for goods and services to be exported without having to deal with cross border tariff regimes,” said Minister Bartlett.

Jamaica to host Caribbean Marketplace 2011

Montego Bay, Jamaica will be the venue for the region’s largest tourism event, ” Caribbean Marketplace,” January 16-18, 2011.

The event is organised annually, by the 58 year old Caribbean Hotel& Tourism Association (CHTA), which represents the hospitality industry’s private sector including 36 national hotel associations, 850 members and more than 600 supplier companies.

The Jamaica Hotel& Tourist Association (JHTA) and the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) won the bid to host Caribbean Marketplace 2011 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, now nearing completion in Rosehall, Montego Bay.

“Deeming it a ” significant coup for Jamaica,” JHTA President, Wayne Cummings said ” Caribbean Marketplace is the most important marketing event for this region and we are extremely pleased to bring to Jamaica once more, an event that amplifies our credibility as a major destination.”