The team consisted of the Director for the Caribbean, Lilia Burunciuc (seen 2nd right); Program Leader, Nataliya Mylenko (seen 1st left); and Senior Operations Analyst, Jhanelle-Rae Bowie, following a high-level meeting alongside other members of the Ministry’s team.

The meeting was held at the Ministry’s New Kingston offices earlier today, January 16, 2024.

Among the issues discussed were the World Bank’s ongoing study, titled the “Future of Tourism in the Caribbean,” which seeks to empower regional markets to enhance competitiveness, improve connectivity, and overcome barriers to tourism growth.

Minister Bartlett lauded the initiative and highlighted 2 pivotal studies being conducted by the Ministry.

The studies are: The Labor Market Study, designed to, among other things, address current and future labor issues in the tourism industry, and the Economic Impact Study, aimed at evaluating the implications of adding 20,000 new rooms over the next 10 years.

The Jamaica Ministry of Tourism and its agencies are on a mission to enhance and transform Jamaica’s tourism product, while ensuring that the benefits which flow from the tourism sector are increased for all Jamaicans. To this end it has implemented policies and strategies that will provide further momentum for tourism as the engine of growth for the Jamaican economy. The Ministry remains committed to ensuring that the tourism sector makes the fullest contribution possible to Jamaica’s economic development given its tremendous earning potential.

At the Ministry, they are leading the charge to strengthen the linkages between tourism and other sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and entertainment, and in so doing encourage every Jamaican to play their part in improving the country’s tourism product, sustaining investment, and modernizing and diversifying the sector to foster growth and job creation for fellow Jamaicans. The Ministry sees this as critical to Jamaica’s survival and success and has undertaken this process through an inclusive approach, which is driven by the Resort Boards, through wide-scale consultation.