Safety, Security remains Priority for Jamaica

KINGSTON, Jamaica; December 18, 2018: Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett is reiterating the country's commitment to ensuring a safe, secure and seamless destination to all visitors who come to the country.

In that context, Minister Bartlett says, “A full scale review is being done of all the protocols and ethical arrangements within the industry in keeping with the changes that are taking place in the demographics as well as the new markets that are emerging. Jamaica must stand at the cusp of these changes and must be leaders in ensuring that tourism safety and security is enhanced at all times. 

As a result we have brought technical advice and support from international experts in tourism security like Peter Tarlow and Global Rescue and they will coalesce with our local tourism destination assurance experts to craft a new architecture for tourism ethics and visitor safety in Jamaica.”

As part of efforts to ramp up its destination assurance programme, the Ministry through the Tourism Product Development Company, has started an island wide security audit of all hotels and attractions. Joining this audit is highly regarded international expert, Dr. Peter Tarlow who will provide technical support. The report from this review is to be ready by the first quarter of 2019.

Subsequently, Minister Bartlett has also indicated that more stringent rules and legislation will be put in place to ensure the safety, security and seamlessness of the island’s tourism product.

“The confidence of any destination rests on ensuring the safety, security and seamlessness of both visitors and locals alike. We are making not just a statement but a commitment that where we find breaches or infractions in the sector, we will as a destination respond and act strongly.

Breaches of security of any kind are aberrations that the destination will not tolerate and will treat with accordingly. We do not condone these acts and are working assiduously to correct these breaches through stricter regulations which will include withdrawal of licenses in some instances,” Minister Bartlett added.