Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has revealed that approximately 40 percent of the $4.38 billion earned by the tourism sector during the 2023-2024 fiscal year stayed within the Jamaican economy.
Speaking at yesterday’s post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House, Bartlett explained that a portion of the revenues generated in the sector is reinvested into its operational expenses.
“So you have to bring in the product first, so the cost of bringing the tourists here; airlines, marketing arrangement, advertising and then the issues of the capital expenditures that have been made to create the facilities here and the infrastructure … all of these are external payments that have to be made,” he said.
Additionally, Bartlett highlighted the expenses incurred by tour operators and travel agencies as contributing to the calculation of tourism revenue.
“When that is over, you now have to deal with the domestic cost, starting with the taxation. And yesterday, I indicated that $53 billion of direct taxes go into the consol (consolidated) fund,” he said. “And then you have the cost of operating the transportation, the entertainment, the utilities that are required and all of those are costs that have to be borne locally.”
Observing that Jamaica imports many goods used in the tourism industry, Bartlett emphasized that increasing local investment could lead to greater revenue retention.
“We have to invest more on the supply side so that 40 cents that stays here can become 50 or 60 because the less we import is the more we retain,” he said.
Every Jamaican can benefit
Bartlett revealed that the gross earnings for 2023-2024 saw a 9.6 percent increase compared to the previous financial year. Stopover arrivals, estimated at 2.96 million, also demonstrated a 9.4 percent increase.
Highlighting the transformative potential of tourism, Bartlett emphasized that every Jamaican can benefit from the sector.
“The image that tourism has borne over the years is for the big man. We want to totally erase that image because it is not true. There is no industry on planet Earth that does more and offers more opportunity for the smallest of persons with the least idea, not a genius, not a rocket scientist, but starting from a little guy with an idea, a foolish little idea to make craps race and in no time they’re driving a car and sending their children to school and building a house. I’ve seen it happen,” he said.
