WYKEHAM McNeill’s trademark smile is broader these days. Given the latest developments in the tourism sector, one can understand why.

Just days after McNeill focused the country’s attention on the fact that just under 3,000 new hotel rooms are now being constructed in the island, representing investment of US$500 million, Mexican company Karisma Hotels and Resorts announced that it is investing more than US$900 million in a mega hotel project in St Ann.

According to Karisma’s vice-president of corporate affairs and business development, Ruben Becerra, the nine-hotel project will, over a decade, add 4,000 new rooms to the tourism sector and provide at least 8,000 direct jobs.

It’s the kind of news that makes Government ministers beam with pride. But, while McNeill admits that he’s “excited”, he quickly states that the investments represent only the second phase of what he wants to accomplish as tourism minister.

“My job now is to do two things — first, ensure that Jamaica gets the full benefit of this; and second, ensure a sustainable tourism industry,” McNeill tells the Jamaica Observer.

The investment phase, he points out, is being spurred by the first phase of his strategy — new legislation in the form of the Fiscal Incentives Act.

Under the Act, the number of tourism properties eligible for tax benefits for re-investment and refurbishing has increased from 100 to 400.

The upshot is that hoteliers, particularly the owners of medium and small properties, as well as attractions, are refurbishing and upgrading. That, McNeill points out, has led to a general improvement in the tourism product.

The accommodation subsector, he adds, has seen more than US$500 million in upgrading over the past three years.

“The fact that, right now, you can have 2,700 rooms being built in Jamaica is phenomenal. When you place the 4,000 (announced by Karisma) on top of the 2,700 that you have now, and the others that are to come… we’re in that good place,” he says, his smile widening.

What he finds particularly encouraging is the fact that these are private sector investments which complement his ministry’s and the Jamaica Tourist Board’s (JTB) focus on marketing, developing relationships, and building on the strength of Brand Jamaica.

Also helping to drive the investment phase, he says, is the new regime of approving incentives, which cuts him, as minister, out of the process.

Now, any entity seeking a tax incentive need only be tax compliant, licensed by the JTB, and registered with the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment.

“Before, those applications would have to be signed by the minister. That was bad governance,” McNeill insists.

“So what has happened now is that investors look at a transparent system in which they don’t even have to come and meet the minister, and so they say ‘I can work with this’,” McNeill explains, adding, “the dynamics are right. Jamaica is in the right place.”

His focus now on ensuring that the country benefits from the investments involves revenue flowing to other sectors, such as manufacturing.

Key to that strategy is the Linkages Council, which comprises people from both the tourism and manufacturing sectors and is creating synergies between both industries.

The very existence of the council is somewhat of a victory for McNeill, as both sides have, in the past, had a less than friendly relationship.

McNeill’s other focus, which he terms, “the churning effect of tourism”, is the provision of housing for workers in the industry, particularly in the areas where new hotels are being constructed and where existing properties are expanding.

His team, he says, is now looking at the possibility of working with the National Housing Trust and private developers with the intention of creating various purchase models.

“If managed properly, it creates a whole series of opportunities; because people want somewhere to live, and they will pay for it,” he argues. “It will boost the construction sector, but you have to do it properly. And Government can be involved as the largest owner of land lying fallow.”

“What will happen if we don’t do that, is that a man is going to come lay down on the land; he’s using it anyway, but in an unstructured development,” McNeill adds.

“The real key to tourism, in a lot of ways, is what it churns,” he says. “If I believe there is a shortcoming to the earlier investment, it is that maybe we did not benefit as much as we could have, or should have. I do believe this time around it will be different.”