Tourism Minister Mr Edmund Bartlett tells us that, for the January to March period of 2023, Jamaica is estimated to have welcomed 1.185 million visitors, representing growth of 94.4 per cent, when compared to the same period a year ago.

That’s all part of Jamaica’s eye-catching recovery following devastating fallout from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The minister says what many people have already worked out that tourism “will be the biggest driver of economic growth and prosperity in Jamaica for years to come”.

According to Mr Bartlett, in 2022 Jamaica welcomed 3.3 million visitors, a 117 per cent increase over 2021, with earnings estimated at US$3.7 billion.

He is reported as saying that 2023 will show a full recovery in annual figures. That, we hear, is ahead of previous estimates that full recovery would occur in 2024, with projections of 3.8 million visitors and earnings of US$4.1 billion.

Of course, life abounds with uncertainties and tourism is vulnerable to vagaries over which there is little or no control. The pandemic provided a perfect example.

Then there is the weather. Jamaica, like its Caribbean neighbours, knows from hard experience that the hurricane season — now just weeks away — can upend the best laid plans.

In Jamaica, the fear that’s never far away involves the potential effect of crime and disorder.

Yet, as Mr Bartlett reminds us, despite Jamaica’s well-established high crime rate, offences against tourists are extraordinarily low.

That, we suspect, partly explains this country’s ongoing experience as a destination of choice.

Amid the tourism surge, Mr Bartlett points to the dangers that can come from lack of regulation and people doing as they please at the local level in a bid to maximise earnings.

We agree.

There is no doubt that disorder can result if rules and regulations are ignored.

However, we believe it to be important that, as much as possible, the authorities avoid unnecessary heavy-handedness or even the perception of such. Balance must be maintained at all times.

For, if people feel they are being treated unreasonably, or that they are being discriminated against, the very hoped for good order could be undermined.

Beyond that, we applaud plans for a study to determine the possible impact of about 20,000 new hotel rooms planned for the next five to 10 years.

Apart from direct economic earnings and revenue, the study, according to Mr Bartlett, will assess possible impact on agriculture, construction, manufacturing, entertainment, infrastructure, environment, and very importantly, housing and transportation for those who will work in the new rooms.

In other words, it seems to us, the study will facilitate proper planning which, as a country, we have far too often failed to do.

Such a study, we hope, will help to ensure that squatter communities will not result as people come, seeking work; that proper provisions will be made at our airports to ensure quick, comfortable processing of visitors; that steps are taken to prevent gridlock on our roads, and so forth.

As we all know, proper planning or the lack of it, often determines success or failure.