Published on : Tuesday, March 5, 2019
To quote Bartlett, “Last year, 1.4Billion people travelled the globe and spent US1.6Trillion. In that same year, the value of tourism to global GDP was eleven percent (11%). In the Caribbean, 1 in 5 jobs are tourism based and foreign exchange generated by tourism in the region represents more than 50% of the total foreign exchange generated which includes minerals and extractive industries.”
“Despite this growth we recognize that tourism was never organized or structured as an industry and a driver of the economy. It just mushroomed and has grown exponentially while make-shift arrangements were made to facilitate it,” said Minister Bartlett.
Minister Bartlett was delivering speech at a breakfast meeting arranged by Executives of First Global Bank with many important tourism stakeholders from Montego Bay on Friday March 1, 2019.
“As tourism continues its growth, things are changing and we must respond appropriately to meet the needs of this mega industry starting with a labour market architecture. That is why I have initiated the Human Capital Development Strategy to train and certify all the workers through the Jamaica Centre of Tourism Innovation to build a professional cadre of hospitality practitioners who can now be classified and salaried in relation to qualifications and competences,” Minister Bartlett highlighted.