TOURISM Minister Edmund Bartlett has plans to roll out gastronomy tourism corridors across the Kingston Metropolitan Area in a move that, he believes, will highlight Jamaica’s culinary tourism offerings.

“We have looked at the corridor from Half-Way-Tree to Papine,” Minister Bartlett stated during the launch of Jamaica Food and Drink Festival in D’ Kitchen at Progressive Plaza on Barbican Road, St Andrew.

“So we will be working together to build out this initiative. The Linkages Network, led by Carolyn McDonald-Riley, will be looking at how we can make that functional,” the tourism minister shared further.

Bartlett added that his ministry has already identified over “a hundred restaurants along that corridor”, including the gastronomy centre of the capital city at Devon House. The gastronomy corridor will also incorporate the business district of New Kingston, which is known for having several eateries, restaurants and hotels.

“We cannot avoid New Kingston in these discussions. Knutsford Boulevard represents itself in this regard, and it cannot be denied. So, we will have to look at not just a corridor in that sense, but in the same way we [will need to] have more than one tourism resilience corridor in Jamaica. Similarly, we can look at more than one gastronomy tourism corridor in Kingston,” Bartlett said.

The gastronomy tourism corridor from Knutsford Boulevard will continue along Trafalgar Road, leading to Devon House, then to Lady Musgrave Road to encapsulate the hotels and eateries in that area.

Bartlett pointed out that plans to establish gastronomy tourism centres across the Corporate Area will improve its profile as a tourism destination — with food, entertainment, sports and knowledge at the centre of its appeal.

The Jamaica Food and Drink Festival in D’ Kitchen is the island’s newest culinary initiative and the first of its kind here. The venue boasts a gourmet market, mixology counter, fully equipped studio kitchen, and entertainment deck. It will host the annual Jamaica Food and Drink Festival, with this year’s staging running from November 24-December 5.