Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett has given a nod to the Jamaica Labour Party-led Government for acknowledging through its stimulus and other efforts, that it is tourism that must lead the country’s economic recovery once the battle against the novel coronavirus pandemic has subsided.

“Tourism has to be the first out of the box,” Bartlett told journalists at a virtual press briefing from his New Kingston office on Friday.

“We recognise the changes that COVID-19 has brought and the requirement to rebuild, retool, and to be very agile and adaptive as well as adaptable to the various changes that it is going to bring,” he stated.

“One thing that we know for sure is that it is not going to be business as usual, and we are equally convinced that this is going to create some new market opportunities, as well as it is going to create some serious market challenges and we have to be prepared to deal with all of this,” he added.

The minister seemed comfortable with the support given to workers and investors in the sector in the stimulus package announced by Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke in the recent 2020/21 budget debate.

He acknowledged that tourism is the main beneficiary of the stimulus package, which he noted will benefit 19 categories within the industry, including all Jamaica Tourist Board-licensed hotels, attractions, water sports operators, guest houses, apartments, car and bike rentals, travel, raft, craft vendors and “Red Caps”.

“I am proud to say that my Government has made the first and most important move to secure the well-being of the workers in the industry, and not just the industry, but the workers of Jamaica, because this is the most comprehensive stimulus package that Jamaica has ever seen,” he noted.

“Tourism has the capacity, based on its resilience, its ability to bounce back fast from mega-destruction and pandemics to bring back the economy fast, and we have to be prepared so to do,” he added.

Being among those who have been hardest hit upfront by the lethal COVID-19, hospitality workers are able to benefit from a number of programmes under the Government’s COVID-19 Allocation of Resources for Employees (CARE) package.

The package includes: Supporting Employees with Transfer of Cash (SET Cash), which provides temporary cash transfers to those who lost employment on or after March 10; and the Business Employers Support and Transfer (BEST Cash) Programme which will provide temporary cash transfers to businesses registered with the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCO) based on the number of workers at or under the income tax threshold of $1.5 million per annum that they keep employed.

A grant of $40,000 will also be available to craft vendors and transport operators who are registered with TPDCO by April 30, 2020.

In the meantime, Bartlett said he has been focusing on the task of putting together a team of experts and investors to guide the ministry in its post-COVID-19 strategy.

He said the team is “a very impressive list” of people covering all areas of the industry, to include the banking and legal sectors, as well as international partners.

The terms of reference of the recovery committee, dubbed the Plan Ahead Team, is to “establish a realistic view of a starting position” and to “develop scenarios for the future”, said Bartlett.

The minister said the details of the strategy, as well as the names of the committee members are to be released in short order.

“We are looking at various models and scenarios as to what the future could be – a timeline for recovery and what we do. The scenarios and models have to be created to help us determine how to allocate the resources and how to utilise our skills and talents in enabling actions,” he explained.

“The plan ahead team… will be out there to ensure that Jamaica’s tourism is ahead of the game. The minute the source markets turn around, Jamaica will be right there and we will be opening for business and getting business,” the minister said.