Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett declared on Wednesday that Jamaica’s tourism product enjoys 52 per cent repeat visitor arrivals making it the highest in the region.

He was the keynote speaker at the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) Chairman’s Club Forum on the Private Sector Service Excellence Award held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel.

“Jamaica enjoys perhaps the highest level of repeat visitor arrivals in the region and arguably the world. We have a 52 per cent repeat visitor arrival in this destination. I have spent a lot of time visiting the island’s hotels speaking with visitors and I have found that in every one in two cases they have visited Jamaica on a previous occasion, with several visiting many times.

“I met a couple at a Sandals property a few months ago who were a little advanced in age. They told me they were here for their 49th honeymoon anniversary. They told me they were married in Jamaica 49 years ago and have come back to Jamaica every year since then to celebrate their honeymoon anniversary. I told them that I will be hosting them for their fiftieth anniversary. I then enquired, “Why do YOU keep coming back?” I thought they would reel off a list of names with the Honourable Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart being at the top of the list but that wasn’t the case. It was Joseph the bellhop, it was Mary-Jane the housekeeper and Thomas the driver who took them from one attraction to the other. The point I am making is that the essence of customer experience is not necessarily at the top, but at the level of those who interact on a daily basis in a physical way with the customer, ” said Bartlett.

To underscore his point he drew attention to an American Express survey which revealed that 60 per cent of the value of the experience of a destination is the service. The survey also found that 75 per cent of those interviewed said that service above price determines whether they go to a destination or not. The minister went on to add that customer service has to be driven by inspired leadership of the organisation.

” It is only leadership that can ensure that even though there is economic recession the worker is still inspired to perform beyond pecuniary considerations,” he said.

The images of the disturbances in West Kingston at the end of May this year did hurt the Jamaican tourism product. At the time it was felt that it was an untenable position, one beyond recovery, that Jamaica would be indelibly seared into the public consciousness as one of the major crime provinces of the world. It was felt there was no way that Jamaica would recover in a year, but when Bartlett and his team went into the market it was made clear to them that over time Destination Jamaica has offered high quality service and has been a safe destination for visitors.

“The record does show that less than one per cent of all the crimes committed in the country are against tourists. Our partners were also aware of the 52 per cent repeat visitors I am talking about and so it became easier for them to carry the message that what was taking place in Jamaica was part of a wider transformation which saw us taking a position to recover the country from criminals who had taken it over and they understood that,” said the minister.

Bartlett made it patently clear that he was bitterly disappointed that the Opposition in Parliament earlier this week shot down the motion to extend the State of Emergency for a longer period in an effort to see the continuing fall in the crime figures. He said that the motion would have gone a long way to make the country’s external partners feel more comfortable about Jamaica’s situation.

Commenting on the matter he said: “I feel truly ashamed that we could not transcend partisan differences in a matter of great national importance. The way the security forces handled themselves does indicate that the people are not being abused . It has given a sense of comfort to me and made Jamaica feel that it can overcome this scourge that has bedevilled us for most of our lives. Crime and violence has to be eradicated if we are to give the quality service to the world that is required. I can double visitor arrivals to Jamaica tomorrow morning. I can double the spend which is low but can be higher. I can increase the foreign exchange contribution from tourism from US$1.9 billion to US$3.5 billion if we have a safer country and the market feels Jamaica is ready to do business. So I say to my political colleagues, stop the politicking and get on with the business of securing the nation.”