TOURISM Minister Edmund Bartlett says he will be establishing management entities to run the affairs of the island’s resort areas.

Bartlett who was on a tour of Negril last Friday, said the entities to be headed by resort managers will be mandated to build and solidify the destination assurance of Jamaica’s tourism industry.

This, he said, involves putting the standards in place that will guarantee the delivery of a quality product that satisfies the needs of customers and ensure that they get value for money.

“The office will be a one-stop shop to ensure that all the elements of destination assurance are understood and facilitated…and that there is conformity. Where there is no conformity, we will act,” the tourism minister said.

“Tourism today is driven by ethics, quality, value and price, and unless we are there with the rest of the world, we are going to be left behind to languish,” he added.

He informed that a study is being done on the Falmouth resort area to build out the touch points of that kind of structure and that will be used as a prototype.

Bartlett said that as a precursor to the establishment of these resort management entities, the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) Act is being amended to look at, among other things, the preconditions for licensing and to clearly define the rules for the establishment of standards and quality control.

Meanwhile, during the visit to Negril, the minister toured the famous seven-mile beach observing resort activities and meeting and greeting tourists, locals and operators of entities along the stretch.

Bartlett expressed satisfaction with the level of support for the development of Negril. He indicated that a number of projects, which are on stream, may have to be reviewed to ensure that they adequately fit the needs of the resort area.

“We are not of the view that you just build for the sake of having nice edifices. We have to build because it is for a purpose that is going to drive a return on investment and enable growth, because that is our mantra,” he said.

He informed that the artisan village which will be built in Negril will also include a fruit and vegetable market.

“Merchandising of our fruits and vegetables and our commodities is a huge attraction point. People fly all across the world to buy, to taste, to see where indigenous fruits and vegetables …are grown, and also how they are prepared… and presented,” Bartlett said.

He pointed out that one feature of the artisan village will be the production and sale of authentic Jamaican items instead of imported goods.