MONTEGO BAY, St James — Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has stated that Jamaica’s hosting of the PGA Tour Latinoamerica BMW Jamaica Classic marks the return of professional golf to Jamaica, and will provide a welcome boost to the nation’s golf tourism sector.

Speaking at the event’s launch at the BMW Showroom in Kingston last week, Bartlett credited Oliver McIntosh,

SportsMax head, for his lead role in bringing the event to the island.“This is a wonderful moment for golf in Jamaica because it brings back memories of a time when golf tourism had a big role to play in the traffic-building arrangements for tourism. I am certain that this tournament will bring us into another dimension,” Bartlett remarked.The internationally acclaimed event, which is heavily sponsored by the Jamaica Tourist Board, will bring some 144 professional golfers from over 20 countries and an influx of fans.The classic takes place at the Cinnamon Hill Golf Course in Montego Bay from June 12 to June 18.Jack Warfield, president of the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, in a message, said: “Jamaica is a good, ideal country for golf sports tourism. It has the potential to become one of the leading golf courses in the world, and could also stage more tournaments.”Meanwhile, Bartlett also shared that plans are in place to amplify the golfing experience in the island and to further leverage it to attract more visitors.“Rose Hall offers perhaps the best location anywhere in the region and perhaps the best stretch of less than eight kilometres that has four championship golf courses. We want to build back that sort of infrastructure that enables us to claim our place as a premier golfing destination,” the tourism minister said.In the meantime, senior advisor and strategist to the tourism minister, Delano Seiveright, noted that the PGA Tour is critical to the the linkages networks initiative, which was invented and firmly deepened by Bartlett upon coming into office last year, to address the challenge of the tourism dollars leakage by increasing spend in the local economy.“The networks – sports and entertainment, gastronomy, shopping, health and wellness and knowledge — were born out of the tourism minister’s linkages and pillars of growth strategy aimed at sustainably growing our tourism sector and getting more Jamaicans to get a share of the pie. These pillars include: tapping into new markets; developing new products; promoting investment; building new partnerships; and developing human capital,” Seiveright noted.He further added: “The linkages network strategy is already driving increased visitor arrivals and more spend in the local economy. You saw, for example, the success of our fully supported Carnival in Jamaica events, resulting in a record number of tourists visiting Kingston contributing to a 34 per cent increase in the number of visitors coming through the city’s international airport in the first three weeks of April — thereby driving the local economy and filling up hotels and private homes. The Latinoamerica BMW Jamaica Classic will do good for Montego Bay, too and, as everyone knows, golf attracts a higher spending demographic.”The event will be broadcast to millions of homes across Latin America and the Caribbean on

ESPN Deportes,

NBC Golf Latin America,

Fox Sports Americas,

Claro Sports and

CEEN TV; there will also be features on PGA Latinoamerica’s website.