KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett has announced the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) partner, Wilfred Baghaloo, to lead technical arrangements for a tourism working group assessing various issues in Jamaica’s rapidly growing tourism sector.

Baghaloo is the Managing Director for the South Cluster Region for the Deals Practice focusing on Barbados, Bahamas, Jamaica and Haiti and has been with PwC for more than 20 years, leading teams in assurance and advisory.

“This working group has been charged to work on various issues in the tourism space including entertainment, training and certification, issuing of work permits, craft vendors, ground transportation, and information for Tourism Demand Study. Our aggressive growth strategies is bearing considerable fruit and it is clear that work is required to ensure that Jamaican businesses and personnel get a bigger share of the pie while balancing reliability, consistency and quality. An official report on the way forward will be prepared and will likely include a series of recommendations for strong legislative and policy reforms,” Bartlett was quoted as saying in a release from the ministry today.

According to the release, Bartlett had recently met with members of the Tourism Linkages Council and major hoteliers on the issues. He also met with Spain’s Ambassador to Jamaica, Josep Maria Bosch Bessa to update him on developments and also share concerns.

The working group, chaired by Tourism Linkages Council head and hotelier, Adam Stewart, has been expanded and will include: Prominent Business leaders, Michael McMorris and Godfrey Dyer; Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), President, Omar Robinson and Senior Executive, Nicola Madden-Greig; President of the Jamaica Cooperative Automobile and Limousine Services (JCAL), Brian Thelwell; Jamaica Vacations, Chairman, Bert Wright; National Craft Traders and Producers Association, President, Melody Haughton-Adams; Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), Executive Director, Dr Andrew Spencer and representatives from the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport; Ministry of Labour and Social Security and Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA).

Bartlett said the ministry and its agencies will continue to encourage members of the sector to develop strategies that will entail a mix of policies and innovative business models to enable more success.