ST JAMES, Jamaica — Hotelier Christopher Jarrett has been elected as the new head of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA).

He takes over from Robin Russell who opted not to seek re-election after serving for three terms. Jarrett had served as first vice president to Russell.

Jarrett told the Jamaica Observer that he plans to continue on the path of advocacy for the membership on important matters impacting the industry.

“We’ve always challenging the government on issues like taxation and others that may relate to the hotels and the other members, so we’ll just be stepping that up,” he declared.

“It’s really being a lot more vocal about the issues that the members of the JHTA are faced with,” he continued.

(From left) Nadine Spence, Vana Taylor, Christopher Jarrett, O’Brian Heron and Kerry-Ann Qualo-Casserly.

He also explained that the executive will work to ensure that everyone gets the representation from the association.

“We want to be a lot more inclusive so that the allied members and the other stakeholders have an opportunity to benefit in a more inclusive way than had been happening in the past,” he said.

He is also upbeat about the future of the industry as the sector continues to show favourable metrics with growth forecasted for the current year.

“We feel positive about the direction of the economy, right now we contributing a third to the GDP and we expect that to grow with the increase in the room count particularly on the north coast and the west side, Montego Bay and those areas,” he said.

“We expect the growth to be sustained,” he continued.

Also elected were 1st vice president O’Brian Heron, second vice president Kerry-Ann Quallo-Casserly, third vice president Vana Taylor, and fourth vice president, Nadine Spence

Jarrett, for his part, leads three properties: Alatamont Court in Kingston, Altamont West in Montego Bay and the recently opened Hotel 39, also in Montego Bay.