Holness urges greater coordination to safeguard tourism

Prime Minister Andrew Holness is calling for greater coordination among governments and private-sector tourism partners across the Americas to better plan for and manage crises impacting the sector and protect workers.

Speaking at the IV CEO Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California, on Thursday, Holness noted that in the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Jamaica, there was an immediate fall-off in tourism, but noted that the Government took a very proactive approach to cushion the effects.

“We engaged the sector and we put in place a programme to ensure that we could support employees in the tourism sector. So, even though visitor arrivals fell dramatically, in some instances to zero, we still managed to cushion our tourism workers,” the prime minister pointed out.

Holness said, “Going forward, a stronger approach [is needed] in terms of having a plan to ensure the resilience of the industry from a human resource management point of view, from a public-health point of view and, indeed, to treat with any other form of crisis that may emerge.”

He said there must be cooperation in setting standards and working towards a uniform set of rules and regulations to make it easier and seamless for “our partners in tourism to function in our space”, noting that governments are at a better place in terms of managing and coordinating regional efforts in ensuring that the industry is well supported.

Holness, who spoke on ‘How Tourism Can Boost Economic Recovery’, said that for countries to protect the value of tourism, they need to develop policies that will incentivise investors to seek to diversify their offerings.

He noted that Jamaica is adding to its sun, sea and sand offerings by providing higher-value products and making greater use of locally generated inputs, in particular, displaying local culture and involving the people more in tourism.

He said these efforts will improve and increase the value of tourism to the country.

Tourism generates approximately 2.8 million jobs in the Caribbean, which is approximately 15.2 per cent of employment in the region.

The IV CEO Summit was held as part of the Summit of the Americas, which brings together leaders from the countries of North, South, and Central America, and the Caribbean.

The summit, and its stakeholder fora, promote cooperation towards regionwide, inclusive economic growth and prosperity based on a shared respect for democracy, fundamental freedoms, the dignity of labour, and free enterprise.