Jamaica’s Tourism and Economy
9 02 2008
You know…one of the funniest Ministers of government I have come across is the Minister of Finance, Audley Shaw. He is funnier than the Minister who claimed that the “saf-e-ty” of Jamaica’s visitors, is paramount but not quite as funny as that rural MP-turned Junior Minister who likes to visit and speak with his “consequency”…(Oh JNN did him a bitter injustice when they repeated that “consequency” broadcast daily)….but he’s (MOF) getting there.
Clearly he must be joking when he says that we should use the US recession as an opportunity for growth, rather than view it is a sign of distress for us all. While he mentioned that “oil price is going to go down if we have a recession. Interest rates are going down, commodity prices are going to moderate, inflation will moderate in the new fiscal year,”….and yadda yadda yadda…..BUT what piqued my interest was his view on tourism. He claimed that American tourists would cut out European vacations in lieu of one to Jamaica….straight to Jamaica? Well first of all I want to ask him….what empirical data he has in claws that could substantiate that statement…..because as far as I know….even if Americans were going on the cheap….there is certainly Cancun which is MUCH cheaper than coming to Jamaica. Also…who says Americans were rushing to Europe for a vacation? If you pick up any business or world magazine, you’re likely to see that it is the Europeans, in light of the weak US dollar, who are rushing to the US to make purchases and vacation….they simply can’t afford to shop in Europe…even when the Canadian dollar surpassed the value of the US$, CBC news from Toronto brought to the fore, how some Canadian retailers were feeling the pinch as many persons rushed south to get a bang for their buck. So…where could this alarming logic come from? I mean seriously now…..Jamaica has a way of targeting what I call “cheap” tourists. We are satisfied with 1000 people coming to spend $1.00 each, rather than 2 tourists, spending $500.00 each…which in turn would ease the pressure off some of our natural and man made resources. Islands such as Barbados and Grenada on the other hand, enjoy welcoming high end customers. When you go to Barbados, they let in plane loads of people hassle free (not us Caribbean people of course) and there are so many private jets on the runway with the “who is who” who have jetted in. Bermuda, I know definitively, is beyond the reach of the cheap tourist and price their product to attract wealthy, repeat business. So why have I made this point? Because in time of struggle and strife, it is the high end customer who can recover from exogenous shocks faster and easier than low end potential tourists. Therefore, I am of the view that it is this type of tourist who won’t be THAT adversely affected and will continue to vacation during bad periods. I also believe that unless your tourism product is at least 80% geared towards such persons, then I can see no logic in that argument whatsoever. Well, even the Gleaner editorial had to attack it shortly thereafter because really…..the days of people being so stupid to believe in every thing they hear……ARE OVER! We are reading and we are following what is happening in the world….so please….wheel and come again Mr!
I could not agree more. Talk di tings dem my girl! Cho! I feel galvanized now to get my MBA on ASAP given my background in Finance. Without respect to party affiliations, the GOJ has gotten so many things wrong in terms of the economic health of our beloved nation for a long time. We really need to turn the corner at some point.
I agree but some of the things they have no control over. In case anyone is fooled, Jamaica is one of probably 77 nations who eat crumbs from the table…..and that won’t change much until we get a chance to sit at the head table with the G7 or G8 countries….my view.
The approach of the Jamaican govt to tourism reminds me of this country[Aust]..no clear cohesive thought process..just a mish mash of ideas that change by the week..white trash to rich arabs are all targets down here in my little area. At the end of the day though this is a country with the local govts in surplus of millions, state govts in surplus of hundreds of millions and the Federal govt with almost a trillion in surplus[U$0.90:$A1]. Tourism is treated like a hobby in both JA and Oz but only one country can afford this approach.
The problem begins from the top. Benovolent dictator required. Remember though Lee Kuan Yew was a hard man in all senses of the word.