4 days ago
Jamaica's five-year plan for tourism growth
Meagan Drillinger
Jamaica's next chapter in tourism is being written with a long lens, as minister of tourism Edmund Bartlett is focusing on growth, connectivity and investing in the workforce.
In a recent conversation I had with him at Caribbean Travel Week in New York, Bartlett outlined a five-year strategy designed to expand Jamaica's tourism sector by 2030. Jamaica ended 2024 with 4 million visitors and $4 billion in tourism revenue, hitting its "4 by 4" goal. Now it's pushing toward "5 by 5": 5 million visitors and $5 billion in revenue for the coming years. To get there, the island will need major infrastructure expansion, high-profile resort and casino developments and robust workforce-training programs.
Highways and an information superhighway
Jamaica's physical transformation is well underway, beginning with an expanded national road system. The government is currently building a new bypass that will cut the drive time between ports of entry and resort towns. The project is part of a broader plan to ensure every visitor can reach a resort from an airport or seaport in under 90 minutes.
It includes a multiphase construction of a nine-mile perimeter road to improve traffic flow in Montego Bay. Separately, the North Coast Highway plan includes an expansion to four lanes with underpasses and side roads to alleviate traffic congestion in resort towns. Soon, visitors flying into Montego Bay will be able to reach Negril in just over 30 minutes; the trip can currently take triple that amount of time.
Beyond roads, Jamaica is laying fiber-optic broadband across the country, opening the door to digital nomads and long-stay travelers as well as enabling better connectivity for local residents.
Edmund Bartlett Photo Credit: Gay Nagle Myers
"We provided facilities to the most rural areas of the country now," said Bartlett. "A broadband network is now available, so digital nomads can have the space now and find accommodation almost anywhere as well as plug us properly into the global communication stream and the ability to access more information and transmit faster stories and messaging to the market."
New resorts. And a casino
Jamaica's growth also includes high-end development and the country's first-ever casino properties.
"We break ground for three mega-ultraluxury resorts in the next three weeks in Jamaica. This reflects some $3.5 billion of foreign direct investments and will create jobs for more than 30,000 people," Bartlett said.
In 2024, the Princess Grand Jamaica resort opened with 2,000 rooms, and it will open a casino this year, a first for Jamaica. In December, the Caribbean's first Unico resort will open -- Unico 18N 77W Montego Bay. Montego Bay will also see the opening of a Dreams Resort, Planet Hollywood and Vista Ambassadors as well as the luxury residential Pinnacle resort, expected to open in 2028.
Jamaica currently has 35,000 hotel rooms. The country's objective is to have 50,000 rooms by 2030.
"We regard 50,000 rooms as being a tipping point beyond which we begin to question carrying capacity and issues of overtourism," he said.
Building a tourism workforce
Through the Jamaica Centre for Tourism Innovation, more than 30,000 tourism workers have already been certified in collaboration with the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute and the American Culinary Federation. Certification programs are also being offered to high school students to create a pipeline of job-ready young professionals entering the industry.
"We're creating a meritocracy," said Bartlett. "Certification leads to classification, which leads to better compensation. It's about building a labor market where excellence is rewarded, and where tourism careers are taken seriously."
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This year, the ministry is expanding its education programs to include a Gastronomy Academy and a training track specifically for entertainers working in resort and attraction settings. The goal, according to Bartlett, is to align Jamaica's creative culture with international service standards.
He pointed out that Jamaica is the only country in the region to offer a comprehensive pension plan for all tourism workers, not just those in hotels. It's a significant step in creating long-term security for the people whose work sustains the industry.
