KINGSTON, Jamaica – Opposition Spokesperson on tourism and cruise shipping Shahine Robinson today welcomed the Karisma Hotels and Resorts’ announcement of a US$900 million investment in Jamaica’s tourism product, but expressed concerns about the Government’s contribution to efforts to realise the sector’s full potential.

Read: Big! Really big!

The investment  “will not only boost our overall offerings as a destination, but will go a far way in enhancing our room stock, product diversity and competitiveness,” Robinson said in a Jamaica Labour Party release a short while ago.  

“Given the strain the prevailing economic hardships and high levels of unemployment are placing on our people, particularly our young people, the Opposition is hopeful about the prospects for meaningful and sustainable employment this new hotel will bring when it opens to the public, and the jobs that will be available during the construction phase,” she added.

Robinson however cautioned the Government against becoming complacent with the impending development in the tourism sector and insisted on effective leadership and management to realise the full potential of the industry.

“One does not get the sense that the Government is working feverishly to turnaround the paltry 3.6 per cent growth outturn we saw in the tourism sector last year,” she expressed. 

The opposition spokesperson also noted the work done by the private sector to boost tourism, stating that “positive developments in the tourism sector, like this new investment by Karisma, come more as a result of the foresight, resilience and creativity of visionary and innovative players in the private sector, than any meaningful or discernible action on the part of the Government itself.”

She argued that the Government is doing the private sector an “injustice and a grave disservice by failing to play its part by ensuring that it employs targeted strategies and finds creative ways of expanding the product and making it more competitive, while at the same time, creating the social and macroeconomic conditions that will foster even greater investments and increased visitor arrivals.” 

For tourism to move to a near 10 per cent growth like other Caribbean countries, “the Government must awake from its slumber and become more creative, dynamic and action-oriented in its leadership and management of the tourism sector,” Robinson charged.