ST JAMES, Jamaica — Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has made an urgent call for more investment in the supply side of the tourism value chain.

Speaking at the Jamaica Investment Forum at the Montego Bay Convention Centre yesterday, Bartlett highlighted that greater investment in the supply side will ensure greater retention of the money spent by tourists.

“The retention of the dollar globally is averaging 20 cents, in the case of the Caribbean we are between 15 cents at the low and 50 cents. The high of 50 cents resides with the Dominican Republic while Jamaica is at 30 cents. This is the reason the value added from tourism remains low and the growth in these countries that have high tourism dependency remains low,” Bartlett was quoted as saying in a press release from the ministry.

“There needs to be a strategic shift in terms of where the emphasis for investment must be to enable the destination to convert the capital that tourism has into the wealth that the people need.

“My investment thrust is therefore to build out the capacity of the supply side within the recipient countries so that the wealth of tourism can reach the ordinary man in our communities.”

As part of efforts to reduce the leakages of tourist spend, the Ministry of Tourism established five Linkages Networks — gastronomy, sports and entertainment, health and wellness, shopping and knowledge — to drive programmes and projects that create more economic opportunities for Small and Medium Sized Tourism Enterprises.

The ministry also said it has also established a one billion dollar revolving loan through the Tourism Enhancement Fund and the EXIM Bank to further to assist with investment for micro and small Jamaican owned businesses to build capacity to create and compete.