MONTEGO BAY, St James — Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett is urging employers in the tourism industry to invest in their workers.

In a recent interview withJIS News, Bartlett argued that pumping money into the development of human resource will benefit the entire industry.

“The better we treat them well, the more we train them, the better will be the returns. It is imperative that we make the investment,” he said. He noted the importance of getting workers prepared for the thousands of hotel rooms that are expected to come on stream over the next few years.

Hailing the country’s tourism workers as invaluable assets, Minister Bartlett said they are a major part of the reason why tourists keep coming back to the country.

He cited the heavy recruitment of Jamaican workers by tourism interests overseas as a testament to their value and impact.

“If the truth be told, some of the best advertising and promotion have come about from the interaction between our iconic asset, our people, and the foreigners who visit our shores for vacation,” the minister added.

“When you combine this with our food, our music and our culture, there is enough reason to see why our tourism product is the best in the region. We just simply need to harness everything together where it can be properly packaged and marketed as a first-class tourism product,” he said.

Bartlett said he is confident that Jamaica can continue to be a leader in the region and benefit from multi-destination marketing. Jamaica is finalising such a arrangement with Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

“The Caribbean has the most alluring warm-weather tourism destination on earth,” the Minister pointed out.

“If the region puts its collective wits together, we can be a real force and surpass the over US$30 billion we currently earn combined. Besides the traditional markets of the United States, Canada and Great Britain, there are some new frontiers in the form of China, South America and some of the Scandinavian countries that are begging to be had,” he noted.

Bartlett said that the success of the Jamaica Product Exchange (JAPEX) tourism trade show, held recently at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, St James, showed that Jamaica is still a first-choice destination and one that remains popular with overseas clients.

He urged that all stakeholders work in unison to improve on the product in order to attract more visitors to the island.

“We now record an estimated 3.4 million stopover and cruise visitors combined,” the tourism minister pointed out. “I know we have the ability to do better, and every effort will be made to do just that,” he added.