Mideast investors eye Caribbean windfall
Published:Wednesday | June 15, 2022 | 12:12 AM
Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean are now under the microscope of investors from the Middle East who are expected to visit the region in July to hold talks with business interests on regional tourism prospects.
Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett, who made the announcement in Gordon House on Tuesday, told the country that Middle East interests want to support the Caribbean through investments.
He said that already a special investment fund has been set up for the Caribbean.
With more than 40 investors from the Middle East expected to visit the Caribbean in early July, Bartlett urged Jamaicans to prepare their projects for engagement.
Bartlett led a high-level tourism team in May to the United Kingdom (UK), the United States, and Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates to explore investment and airlift opportunities and to bolster travel to Jamaica.
The tourism minister said that the chairman of Emirates airline restated his commitment to selling seats to Jamaica.
He said the chairman also pledged to visit Jamaica during the 60th Jubilee celebrations.
“When he comes, it is going to be investment,” said Bartlett.
The senior Cabinet minister said that this year’s projection of 3.2 million visitors is on track.
Today Jamaica will welcome the one-millionth stopover visitor into the island at Sangster International Airport, Bartlett reported.
He said that the sector is on course to earn $3.3 billion this year, just $400 million shy of the sum obtained in 2019. According to Bartlett, this performance suggests that by early 2023, tourism earnings will surge to pre-pandemic levels and beyond.
“If we intend to maintain any semblance of this momentum ... we can safely say that well before 2024, we will have 4.5 million visitors and will earn $4.7 billion,” he said.
Discussing the benefits flowing from the UK leg of the blitz, Bartlett said that from February to May, the country was already seeing record arrivals out of London.
“In fact, in February alone, we had the best February in the history of tourism coming out of the UK when we had 18,000 visitors coming to Jamaica,” the minister said.