FIVE new tourism subsectors have been added to the country’s offerings as the Government ramps up efforts to promote Jamaica as an ideal tourist destination.

The new areas, which form part of the country’s Tourism Linkages Network, are sports and entertainment, shopping, knowledge, health and wellness, and gastronomy.

They were established to further diversify the country’s tourism offerings, create business opportunities and increase the use of local goods and services within the tourism sector.

Speaking Thursday at the official press launch at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett said these key areas will serve to greatly enhance the country’s tourism product.

“This launch is important because it marks the start of what promises to be an exciting future for local tourism as the public and private sectors come together to unleash Jamaica’s true potential as a tourist destination,” he said.

The minister said the Government will be working on the policies relating to the new networks, which he intends to introduce in time for his budget presentation next year.

“We have already done the concept paper, which Cabinet has approved. We will now do the White Paper and then have the policy ready for Parliament’s approval when I make my presentation,” he said.

Formerly the Tourism Linkages Hub, the primary goal of the Tourism Linkages Network is to ensure that Jamaica’s tourism sector becomes better integrated with other sectors, such as agriculture and manufacturing.

The objective is to increase the consumption of local goods, create employment, and generate and retain more of the country’s foreign-exchange earnings.

The Tourism Linkages Network is supported by a Tourism Linkages Council, made up of public and private sector partners, who oversee the coordination and implementation of effective and sustainable strategies that strengthen and facilitate linkages.