Bartlett urges CARICOM to make tourism a strategic priority

 

 

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has issued a call to action to CARICOM member states to formally recognise tourism as the region's single largest economic activity and to act collectively to protect, develop, and future-proof the industry.

 

Mr. Bartlett was speaking ahead of the start of the Caribbean Travel Marketplace 2026 trade show in Antigua and Barbuda.

 

The event, underway in the capital St. John's, is slated to end on Friday.

 

Minister Bartlett said, while tourism contributes more than 40 per cent of Gross Domestic Product across several Caribbean economies and supports the livelihoods of millions of citizens, it is still not a core priority of CARICOM's strategic agenda. 

 

He outlined some critical areas where he believes coordinated CARICOM action is both necessary and overdue, including a Regional Tourism Strategy. 

 

"Currently, some 15 to 20 cents of the dollar leaks into international spaces. Secondly, the human capital development within the region is lacking in certification and consequently impacting the professionalism within the industry. The third position, of course, is the supply side where the resources that are critical to meet the demand that the visitors bring into the space are not being provided by our locals. The need, therefore, for a new look at how the Caribbean reimagines itself, how it positions itself to absorb the demand from tourism is critical," he suggested.

 

The minister said Jamaica will continue engaging counterparts across the region to build consensus for a Caribbean tourism integration agenda.

 

In the meantime, Mr. Bartlett said the International Development Bank (IDB) is to commission a study on the demand and impact of tourism in the region.

 

Speaking in his capacity as chairman of the Supply Side Committee of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, Jamaica's Tourism Minister said the IDB will spend US$40,000 on the research. 

 

"The CHTA also advised that they have resources, some $35,000, towards a similar objective. So they need then for us to pull everybody together. That is what we will do, to have a joint position and for us to approach the multilaterals as well as the central CDB in the region to enable appropriate funding to facilitate a proper empirical study of the economic impact and the demand for tourism goods and services, given a) the current situation with regards to arrivals, and secondly, the projected arrivals to 2030," he noted.