Jamaica ranks 76 out of 141 countries in the 2015 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index. Similarly, the country’s ranking slipped from four to five in TripAdvisor’s Absolute Ranking of Destinations in the Caribbean.

“We are ranked sixth in the Americas, but we are ranked below Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, primarily because we rank low in cultural experiences, and we rank very low in safety and security issues. We didn’t rank very well either in terms of infrastructure,” said Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett.

He was speaking at a meeting of the expanded Tourism Linkages Council at the Ministry of Tourism offices in Kingston last week.

“The linkages that we are going to have to form are going to be very critical to build out the competitiveness of the destination, because you are being measured on these critical factors,” he said.

Among the approaches that are being undertaken to improve security is the deployment of 70 district constables to resort areas.

“That is in addition to the courtesy corps that we now have, and we are in further discussion to build out a strong arrangement between the national security and tourism ministries to ensure that on the road, foot patrol, physical presence of security will be in the industry in a strong way,” he said.

In addition, a multisectoral task force has been created to develop strategies to effectively address the issue of visitor harassment. The strategies will include legislative, law enforcement, and social intervention measures.

As it relates to culture, the minister said more will be done to “create a distinctiveness for visitors and ensure that the Jamaican experience is paramount”.

The Tourism Linkages Council is chaired by chief executive officer of Sandals Resorts International Adam Stewart.

Other members are owner of the Spa Retreat Boutique Hotel in Negril, Christine Cohen; CEO of Digicel Jamaica, David Butler; entertainment consultant, Kamal Bankay; CEO, GB Energy Jamaica, Mauricio Pulido; acting CEO of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), Peter Thompson; and several other industry leaders.

The council is made up of public and private sector partners that oversee the coordination and implementation of effective and sustainable strategies which strengthen and facilitate linkages.