Bartlett to meet with Tourism Crisis Management Taskforce in Montego Bay today
Published:Friday | February 2, 2024 | 12:13 AMJanet Silvera/Senior Gleaner Writer -
WESTERN BUREAU:
Today, Jamaica's Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett and his executive team are scheduled to meet with the president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, Robin Russell, along with representative of the Tourism Crisis Management Taskforce in Montego Bay, St James.
The primary agenda for this meeting is to explore strategies for diversifying the tourism market as well as discussing strategies and next steps which will involve some level of activity in North America.
Bartlett shared this initiative shortly after the announcement of the local government elections at the Montego Bay Convention Centre yesterday afternoon.
The Tourism Crisis Management Taskforce, led by businessman John Byles, and which was instrumental in helping to revitalise the country's economy post the COVID-19 lockdown, continues to play a pivotal role in navigating the challenges and opportunities within the tourism sector.
It is not clear how much of the agenda will speak to the battering that Jamaica is currently getting from news media throughout the United States (US) and Canada, after a US State Department Travel Advisory was released warning prospective visitors from that country not to visit the island due to violent crime and its inadequate healthcare systems.
The advisory came during the winter tourist season, when arrival figures for this past January were up eight per cent compared to 2023, which was the best year ever for the tourism sector. January’s growth shows progress is happening, and that momentum could be stunted by the type of publicity the advisory has garnered.
Prompted to respond to the claim that the country is not safe, the tourism minister argued that 0.01 per cent of crimes that are committed overall, is in no way connected to the tourists who visit the island.
“We never ignore the valid reviews of our situation. We never ignore, and our response is not one to say that we have been singled out in any way, but one which will say that we have to be more proactive and that we're going to work harder in all the areas that are needed going forward,” he stated.
Jamaica received 2.2 million American visitors here last year, which was a 600,000 increase over the previous year with repeat business to the island at more than 40 per cent. This, Bartlett said, makes a statement about the confidence and comfort that visitors have coming to Jamaica.
He however admitted that the advisory was having some impact, though not significant.
“We are assessing this very closely,” he admitted.
He said the taskforce usually looks at issues that impact the industry; particularly those that have the potential to be disruptive.
According to him, a number of meetings have been ongoing with the country’s partners and the island’s public relations team in New York have also been meeting the Jamaica Tourist Board sales team in the market.
“We are getting a full report today (yesterday)," he said.