Jamaica has revealed what officials are calling a “five-point plan” for the recovery of the island’s crucial tourism sector. 

The plan includes a “staggered reopening” of tourism entities, according to Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett. 

“We do not see reopening as being a one-shop activity that immediately, everywhere will be opened,” Bartlett said this week. “We think that reopening will be on a staggered basis as we build our own capacity to receive the large number of visitors whom we are accustomed to having in Jamaica and, indeed, to bring more in the long run than we had in the past.”

The components of the recovery strategy also include developing “robust health and safety protocols”; training for all segments of the tourism sector to manage the new protocols and “behavior patterns” of the new travel reality; building safety and security infrastructure and acquiring personal protective equipment and hygiene tools. 

“Already, we are on a number of international circuits talking about Jamaica’s preparedness and our readiness,” Bartlett said. “We are making contact with the trade media and making sure that they understand what we are doing here and how we are preparing [for] the next wave of visitors to our shore.”

Tourism contributes to 9.5 percent of Jamaica’s gross domestic product. 

“Jamaica must become COVID resilient and that is what is driving this taskforce – developing the protocols and developing all the elements that are going to come together to enable a reopening,” he said. “Tourism is indeed the lifeblood of Jamaica, and for economic recovery to happen, tourism must recover.”

— CJ