Consultations Underway to Address Gaps in Tourism Supply Chain

• Preparations are in high gear to enable Jamaican producers to better meet the demands of a revived tourism industry. The Ministry of Tourism is working in tandem with the Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries and has initiated a series of high-level meetings to finalize the requisite arrangements.
• Two crucial meetings were held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre on the weekend with representatives from the agricultural sector: One meeting involving the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), to discuss the supply chain for meat and meat cuts, and agricultural produce, and the other with the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association, exploring supply chain issues.
• The Minister of Tourism noted that the discussions were “in the vein of reimagining tourism in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and to drive the new production and consumption patterns that we require to enable more local Jamaicans to be connected to the tourism value chain.” This is aimed at ensuring that a larger percentage of the tourism dollar stays in Jamaica and more jobs are created.
• He expressed confidence that tourism was showing signs of recovery “…and this is why we’re moving so fast to bring the partners together because the pandemic brought tourism literally to a halt and what it meant is that we were all at point zero, and this is a good time to bring the partners together so that we build back together.”

(Source: JIS)