Bartlett unveils five-pillar tourism plan

The Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has unveiled a five-pillar strategy that he says will result in visitor arrivals being increased to five million in five years earning $5 billion a year.

Declaring that Jamaica’s tourism sector has under-performed, the portfolio minister, Edmund Bartlett, said value added earnings from tourism amounts to less that five per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

He also said jobs in the industry represent less than 10 per cent of the island’s workforce.

But Bartlett said the government would be taking a new path aimed at securing five million visitors by 2021 which would also increase the total direct jobs to 125,000.

The five tourism pillars:
*Tapping into new markets
*Developing new products
*Promoting investment
*Building new partnerships

Meanwhile Bartlett said the introduction of e-visas will form part of the government’s strategy to secure new markets:

He says e-visas will help to facilitate hassle free travel to Jamaica.