OCHO RIOS, Jamaica; Wednesday, July 1, 2026: Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has put the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) on notice that it will be required to play a leading role in driving the new Tourism 3.0 growth agenda across the entire sector.
Confident that “ours is a wonderful future ahead” for Jamaica’s tourism, Minister Bartlett told JHTA members at their 65th annual general meeting at Sandals Dunns River recently, that while government is looking at reimagining the tourism product, “the gatekeepers, of which the JHTA is number one, have to reinvent themselves,” adding, “this is your moment to reexamine and to reimagine what you are about and how you are going to move tourism into the next decade.”
Having billions of dollars invested in the tourism industry, Minister Bartlett said he wanted to see more of the sector’s investors “being inserted in the leadership and direction of the JHTA”
He expressed that “in order to support the National Tourism Authority, we’re going to be establishing a National Tourism Council, and that Council will be consisting of owners (the investors) of the tourism sector, along with all of the sectors that impact tourism.”
The Minister noted that the existing Tourism Linkages Council will be strengthened and morphed into the National Tourism Council, which will consist of representatives from every ministry that has to do with tourism delivery, disclosed Minister Bartlett. With the aim of having one voice in tourism representation, he said “we cannot function without these because when the advisories come, and they are rarely about the experience of the visitor as per the hotel, or as per the attraction, the grading and final categorization of us is based on matters that do not fall directly into the remit of the Ministry of Tourism but in the remit of other ministries.”
Given the composition, Minister Bartlett outlined to the tourism leaders that “the JHTA is going to be the backbone of that council, so you have to reimagine yourself.”
Minister Bartlett also said under a reimagined Destination Jamaica, “the future of cruise tourism is never brighter” with discussions currently underway that will change dramatically the fortunes and future of cruise tourism for Jamaica.
Beyond that, new ports will be built on the South Coast, in St Thomas and also in Lucea, which will be established as “the maritime capital of tourism for pleasure boats and yachting.” He added that talks are currently underway regarding Lucea “that will change the flow of visitors into the town.”
