Bartlett Puts Community Tourism at Centre of Jamaica's Growth Push

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says Jamaica's drive to host 10 million visitors over the next decade will hinge on community tourism, not hotel construction alone.

Addressing the recently concluded Tourism Resilience Symposium, Bartlett argued that the country will not reach its aim of US$10 billion in yearly tourism revenue simply by adding 20,000 new hotel rooms. He said stronger support for community tourism and locally owned businesses is needed so a larger share of sector income remains in Jamaica.

"Tourism does not begin at the hotel gate. Tourism begins in the communities. So the hotel may accommodate the visitors but the community gives the visitors Jamaica and that's the purpose why this seminar has been developed. It's because the community gives our visitors Jamaica," Bartlett said.

He noted that tourism provides direct work for just over 175,000 Jamaicans and supports another 354,000 people indirectly — more than half a million livelihoods in total.

Bartlett also restated the government's Tourism 3.0 approach, which seeks to move beyond counting arrivals toward higher economic returns through deeper community involvement, entrepreneurship, and resilience.