Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett has outlined a renewed five-year tourism plan for Jamaica to achieve five million visitors, US$5 billion in earnings plus the employment of 200,000 Jamaicans in the tourism sector.

Bartlett outlined the plan during a meeting with the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) international sales and marketing teams. To ensure the resurgence and growth of the industry, the minister proposed what he described as “a Destination Assurance” position.

This new concept focuses on engaging Generation C, which he dubbed as the generation that transcends demographics and reflects the shared psychographic of living through the pandemic.

Destination Assurance prioritises health and safety while positioning Jamaica as the premiere holiday choice for sun, sea and everything in between.

Optimistic charge given to JTB international sales and marketing teams

Minister Bartlett charged the JTB team to shape and deliver tourism strategies that will deliver on the Destination Assurance promise of a safe, secure and seamless visit.

The minister reported that many of the hospitality brands that were slated to launch hotel properties in 2020 are looking to open their properties in 2021.

He added new hotel brands are also coming on board for additional property development in Jamaica giving the island a positive post-pandemic outlook.

According to Minister Bartlett, “hope for all of us lies in travel and tourism. Travel became the world’s largest industry in 2019 so we know that people will travel.”

“We’re going to bring back Jamaica’s economy. We need to give the world hope. As long as people travel, they produce and they consume. Consumption will make for prosperity for all,” Bartlett told the JTB international sales and marketing teams.

The overall sentiment coming out of the meeting is that optimism remains high for Jamaica’s tourism recovery especially in light of the continued appetite for investment in the sector.

JTB hosts travel agents to ‘keep destination Jamaica top of mind’

In the meantime, the JTB is on a mission to keep destination Jamaica top of mind as travel around the world slowly reopens. To do so the Jamaica tourism marketing arm has planned a series of travel agent familiarization trips on the island to give agents first-hand experience of Jamaica in the COVID-19 era..

The JTB said in a press release reported that the trips are from the US and Canada and cover major source markets such as Toronto, Canada; the northeast, midwest, southeast and western regions of the US.

With the lockdown of the travel and tourist industry since March 2020, marketing and sales by destinations and travel agents alike had come to a standstill.

Airports went silent when travel grounded to a halt because of the global pandemic.

Now that travel is resuming, this sales initiative is one of the ways the JTB is engaging agents to enjoy the tourism offerings as they experience the health and safety measures that are in place for the comfort and peace of mind of visitors to the island.