FORMER tourism minister, Edmund Bartlett, has reacted with scepticism over Government’s recent boast of the significant increase in the destination’s hotel room stock.

“…So the room stock is not growing as the minister (of tourism) is saying or wants us to believe. Because what they are doing is to take out rooms, refurbish rooms replace rooms and the net position is that we are not growing in the manner that we should,” Bartlett expressed.

He argued that the destination is not recording more than a single digit increase in visitor arrivals because of insufficient improvement of the room stock.

“No wonder growth is small… single digit! Because you cannot get exponential growth or double figures if you are not improving and increasing the room stock at a level that makes sense,” criticised Bartlett.

Speaking at a recent People’s National Party rally in western Jamaica, Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips calculated that some additional 30,000 people will be employed in the tourism sector after the completion of 14,000 new hotel rooms that are already committed for construction.

Meanwhile, Bartlett also questioned whether the additional 60,000 airline seats for the winter season that the tourism minister announced, will be filled.

“They talk about seats coming and I hear them saying 60,000 more seats are coming for this winter. I don’t have a problem with that because I understand the business that you don’t swim to Jamaica so you want seats. The question is, at what cost? The other thing is, will you fill those seats when you get them?” he questioned.

“Because it is all well and good to have the seats you know. Sixty thousand new seats may very well translate itself to four and a half per cent of five per cent at the end of the winter season. But are you going to fill them? Are the planes going to fly with 45 and 50 and 60 per cent load factor? Or are they going to fly at 85 and 95 per cent. That’s the real test.”

Bartlett, who is the member of Parliament for St James East Central was on Sunday speaking at the John Rollins Success Primary School where he hosted a special Christmas Awards Dinner for over 100 workers and senior members of his constituency.

The event was the 10th award function the MP staged for similar groups since the start of the year.