Tourism Ministry Finalising Arrangements to Enter Indian Market

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Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says that arrangements will be fine-tuned over the next few weeks to begin strong tourism marketing in India.

Jamaica is actively targeting India as part of a diversification strategy to boost visitor arrivals.

“We want to bring in a segment of that 90-million outbound tourism that India offers today,” Minister Bartlett said.

He was addressing a ceremony to commemorate the 180th year of the arrival of Indians in Jamaica, at the East Indian Migration Monument in Old Harbour Square, St. Catherine, on Sunday (May 3).

The ceremony was attended by India’s Minister of External Affairs, Dr. S. Jaishankar, who is on an official visit to Jamaica.

Minister Bartlett said that the integration of the Indian ethnicity into the mosaic of Jamaica reflects the true meaning of the country’s motto ‘Out of Many, One People’.

“We see it in music, we see it in art and we see it in manufacturing. We see [it] in the area of tourism as one of the newest partners in our hotel development in Jamaica. The MGM Hotel is originating from India and we are excited about them owning three hotels in Jamaica,” he shared.

Mr. Bartlett said he expects that Dr. Jaishankar’s visit will add value to Jamaica’s relationship with India and deepen ties.

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, in her address, praised the Indian community for its contribution to Jamaica’s heritage and economy.

Reflecting on the first ship bearing Indian indentured labourers, which arrived at the island’s shores in 1845, she said it opened a chapter in Jamaica’s history that over time helped to shape the character of the nation.

“They came under difficult conditions, yet they brought with them faith, discipline, expertise and skill, cultural traditions and the determination to build lives of dignity and purpose and to thrive,” she pointed out.

Minister Grange said their descendants and the wider Indo-Jamaican community have made an immeasurable contribution to the development of Jamaica in the fields of agriculture, academia, science, medicine, sport, enterprise, public service, cuisine, religious life and artistic expressions.

“This journey is pivotal in the Jamaican story, and the legacies of arrival and survival are woven into the beautiful tapestry of a diverse and vibrant nation, which we honour and celebrate today,” she added.

She said that Jamaica deeply values India’s friendship and support and welcomes the continued strengthening of the partnership between the countries in culture, education, heritage preservation, creative exchange and wider development cooperation.