TEF’s New Business Model to Focus on Tourism Innovation

KINGSTON, Jamaica; April 12, 2018:  Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) will be repositioned within the next month as the country’s primary producers of tourism innovation, better allowing his Ministry to meet demands of the industry.

The Minister, who was speaking at a meeting with TEF staff and board members at his New Kingston offices on Tuesday (April 10), shared that the new direction of the agency will “create the added value that the industry needs to go one step further, by being ahead of competition and defining the new ways in which Jamaica is going to be remaining top-of-mind in the industry.”

“TEF was used like the ATM of government and we were making commitments all over the place and ended up with overhangs taller than the skies. Now in a more structured and organized way, we will be looking at TEF’s flows and outcomes within a cycle to better measure and manage outcomes,” said Minister Bartlett.

The new model will see TEF expanding to include new divisions such as the Tourism Linkages Network, the Jamaica Centre of Tourism Innovation (JCTI) and the Craft Development Institute.

It will also include a Data Analytics Division, which will use big data to monitor new trends in the industry globally to guide decision-making within the Ministry. The division will receive assistance from the Jamaica Tourist Board to develop a well-equipped website that will be launched in May.

TEF has also been charged to assist with the data management of the Global Disaster Resilience Centre, which will be established at the University of West Indies, Mona, Jamaica later this year.  It will provide the centre with critical marketing and analytical data that will help to guide the broader communications that the centre will make to the rest of the world.

He went on to explain to staff that, “the primary function will continue to be to manage the inflow and direct it to the consolidated fund. But, central to your function will be, developing innovative projects, and enabling iconic attractions to be developed across the island. Within the area of projects, you will also see to the destination assurance by way of building out the physical infrastructure.”

The Minister also shared that the information produced by the new TEF will be of particular interest to small and medium tourism enterprises, as it will provide entrepreneurs with information to modify their business models as needed, to adapt to new trends in the industry and by extension keep their businesses afloat.

“I am excited about this change in TEF and think that it will be an incubation for the industry overall as we begin to make others understand the trends that are taking place in the industry and prepare us for the changes that are coming,.” said the Minister.