Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett has unveiled a special Task Force that has been established to oversee the execution of a study that will determine the aggregate demand for goods and services by the tourism sector.

“The projection for growth this year of two million stopover arrivals is going to be an important landmark for tourism arrivals in Jamaica and what we want to do is to look at what that means in terms of demand for goods and services in Jamaica and how do we proceed to meet that demand,” Minister Bartlett explained at the inauguration of the Task Force at the Ministry of Tourism, New Kingston.

The establishment of the Task Force, led by GraceKennedy’s Chief Operating Officer Don Wehby, is in keeping with the Tourism Ministry’s mandate to promote the development of tourism as a high performance engine of growth for the Jamaican economy.

The Task Force’s mandate is to direct the undertaking of an Economic Impact Study of Tourism, the results of which will contribute significantly to improving the quality of information available for strategic planning and policy development. Importantly, it will also be useful to local producers of goods and services to enable them take advantage of the opportunities that exist in the industry, thereby ensuring that more of the tourism dollar is retained in the local economy.

The other members of the Task Force are: businessman Mr. Michael Lee Chin; General Manager of the Jamaica National Building Society, Mr. Earl Jarrett; President of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, Mr. Wayne Cummings; President of the Jamaica Manufacturers Association, Mr. Omar Azan; Director General of the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), Ms. Sonia Jackson; Director General of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Dr. Pauline Knight; and Consultant in the Ministry of Agriculture and Lecturer at the University of the West Indies, Dr. Derrick Deslandes.

Mr. Wehby said the creation of the Task Force and the commissioning of the Economic Impact Study of Tourism “is a wonderful opportunity for us to move ahead and really produce a game changing report where we can get job creation in Jamaica which is so badly needed so we can grow our economy.” He added: “tourism is the bright spot, this is the industry that is showing a lot of growth and when you look at the runway there is more growth for tourism.”

Mr. Lee Chin, who joined the meeting via teleconference, pointed out that there was a need for information on the demand created by tourism so that more businesses in the local economy could benefit.

“We have to work out how we can make the restaurant in Mocho a viable business based on information,” Mr. Lee Chin said. “It is for us to connect the information that you have on the demand side to make sure that on the supply side we are most effective,” he added.

The cost of the study is to be jointly funded by the Tourism Enhancement Fund and private sector partners. It is expected to be completed in six months.