KINGSTON, Jamaica – With Jamaica experiencing significant tourism-led recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, is warning industry players that disorder and poor practices will not be allowed to disrupt the country’s destination assurance.

Opening the 2023/24 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, he the informed that in January to March this year, Jamaica welcomed a record 1,185,000 visitors, which is 94.4 per cent higher than for the same period in 2022.

“It’s a good thing, Madame Speaker that so many more people are coming into the tourism space. But it also can be a bad thing if disorder and criminality and poor practices are made to creep in and provide a disruption of the destination assurance that we offer to our visitors,” Bartlett pointed out.

He noted that it takes one bad incident to destroy the destination “not just for weeks but for years”.

“I think we have a duty to ensure that persons entering the space follow the rules and are respectful of the importance of law and order…I think that we have to take a strong position [and] stand up for good law and order in this society,” the minister said.

Recently, the Tourism Product Development Company Limited (TPDCo) announced that it has moved to put a stop to illegal rafting on the White River in St Ann.

The entity partnered with the Jamaica Constabulary Force in terminating the illegal activity.

The TPDCo is also making efforts to regularise illegal operators who need assistance in being brought into conformity with the laws and regulations governing the sector.

In the meantime, Bartlett said that, overall, Jamaica continues to be a safe place for tourists.

“Our record of visitor safety is enviable across the world with a record of 0.1 per cent of all the crimes committed [being] against our visitors,” Bartlett told the House.

– JIS