Potential tourism markets for Jamaica

[Jangle]

Before a certain poster became a reborn AI robot.

Jamaica is at a pivotal juncture in tourism development... a crossroads. Where will Drivah go? The table has been set for an explosion in arrivals and earnings after the current crisis has abated... because of 3 major infrastructural developments.

1. The hotel room stock has increased by 50% in the past 10 years (fastest growth in the region and one of the fastest among major world destinations) and is nearing 30,000.
In addition there are resort proposals on the books totaling US$20B+ ... just for Trelawney! .... nationally project proposals exceed US$30B.
All will not be viable or implemented but if just 50% are completed... a further round of massive expansion is in the offing.

All this enabled by:

2. Sangster airport has been privatized, modernized and expanded... and is on track to accommodate 10m passengers/year. It may become the busiest in the hemisphere outside the US as airlines continue to be attracted to its location and facilities.

3. The North Coast Highway is nearing completion... will connect all the major tourism centers from Negril to Port Antonio with a modern road transport system... not perfect... but very serviceable.

The entire northern belt will be easily accessible... facilitating better planned development.

Water, electricity and telecom services have been modernized in the corridor. Hospitality skills have also been improved and Jamaica continues to enjoy effective marketing.
Housing continues to lag badly however... must be a priority.

If the GOJ does get an offshore financial center going, they should seriously consider locating this in Montego Bay... the synergy with tourism is obvious. Kingston should be used as a back office for this operation.

Bahamas, Bermuda and Barbados use their offshore centers to massively drive tourist arrivals. When the businesspeople fly into those destinations conduct business... they have the hospitality services on hand and are easily led to spend money.
Kingston has the intellectual capital for an offshore center but poor hospitality features... we will lose most of this tourist potential with a KMA location... some may continue on to a yard vacation but many will not.
Not good strategic thinking on GOJ's part.




It's clear that infrastructure will no longer be a limiting factor in developing tourism.

The limiting factor will continue to be social tension and resultant antisocial/criminal behaviour.
This will be the major task of the Golding regime in tourism.. ameliorating the social tensions (police action is NOT the main answer) and ensuring that Jamaica is safe for residents first... and visitors as well.

When Jamaicans feel free to "spread out like carpet"... so will our visitors... then the tourism dollar will multiply throughout the economy.. and not just be creamed off by all inclusives.

That's the only way to maximize the infrastrutural developments and make tourism the major engine it can be... otherwise Jamaica will continue to be a mediocre performer in earnings with tourists warehoused in the gilded garrisons called all inclusives (yes necessary now.. but not a great long term development option) ... even as arrivals rise.

Over to you Drivah... the road is clear.

When I said that a redevelopment of Kingston and by extension, St. Thomas, can lead to more tourism earnings than Mobay, Ochie and Negril combined. The eastern section of the Jamaica needs more rooms, hotels and motels to accommodate the business and short stay travelers.




Mastercard exec pitches potential tourism markets for Jamaica

Uses data to map consumer income and spending patterns

Jamaican-born director at the Mastercard Economics Institute Roiana Reid said that she would readily recommend potential tourism markets that the Jamaica Tourist Board should target based on data gathered about the spending habits and the income levels of credit and debit card users across several jurisdictions across the world.

Reid made this bold statement during her recent presentation, “Unlocking Growth: Understanding the Global Consumer and Navigating Travel Trends”, at Mastercard Day Jamaica, during which Mastercard highlighted its capacity to track tourism spend across the world and go deeper into identifying the spending power of people in specific regions.

Speaking at the event, Reid pointed out that unemployment is at its lowest in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany — some of Jamaica’s largest tourism markets. Comparing the growth of wages in these jurisdictions to inflation, she then highlighted the spending power of those who travel.

While dissecting purchases using corporate cards as against consumer cards, Reid shared that she believes there is space for tourism stakeholders to boost corporate card spend through business conferences, retreats and hosting remote employees.

https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2024...ding-patterns/

[Jangle]

Scale up production

Tourism minister prods farmers, manufacturers to boost output to supply hotel sector

TOURISM Minister Edmund Bartlett has thrown out a challenge to the nation’s farmers, urging them to boost production to help satisfy growing demand for food in the booming hotel sector.

Jamaica’s tourism sector has been recovering strongly following its reopening from a COVID-19-induced shutdown for three months — March to May 2020 — and last year welcomed 4.1 million visitors spending US$4.3 billion. The success has continued into this year, with 1.1 million tourists arriving for vacation on the island over the first 10 weeks of 2024 spending more than US$1.25 billion, putting the sector on track to achieving the target of hosting five million visitors by 2025 and earning US$5 billion in revenues. Bartlett wants at least half of that earning to be retained in Jamaica by 2025, up from 30 per cent a decade ago.

“There is still a far way to go and let me tell you why,” Bartlett said in a recent Jamaica Observer Business Forum. “We have to scale up our production in the sectors that provide services for tourism, meaning we need to expand the production capacity in agriculture, we need to do so much more. In fact, it is just about 20 per cent of the demand that is met by our local agriculture sector,” he added.

https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2024...up-production/

[Assasin]

Toot Toot gwaan Bartlett, straight ahead.