THE Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) is to undertake a competitive bidding process to identify suitable providers of medical insurance and health logistics coverage for purchase by tourists who are visiting Jamaica.

This follows Cabinet’s approval for the JTB to be the coordinating entity for the mandatory medical insurance coverage programme for visitors to Jamaica who hold foreign passports.

Minister of Education, Youth and Information Fayval Williams, who made the announcement during a virtual post-Cabinet press briefing yesterday, noted that the resumption of safe travel is critical for health as well as economic sustainability and that “the availability of medical insurance and emergency evacuation are important parameters for the resumption of international travel”.

“Medical insurance coverage would provide visitors with confidence in destination Jamaica and protect the public health-care system,” she said.

In October last year, Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett announced the implementation of the Jamaica Cares Insurance Programme, the first end-to-end insurance programme for tourists travelling to the island.

The initiative, which comprises two components – an all-hazard and a novel coronavirus programme – is aimed at providing travel protection and emergency services to tourists coming into the island, as well as ensuring the safety and protection of workers in the tourism sector and, by extension, Jamaican citizens.