Once upon a time, there were three relatively small countries, one in the Caribbean, one in Southeast Asia, and the other in the Middle East. All three were British colonies that became independent of Britain between 1962 to 1971 — Jamaica, 1962; Singapore, 1965; and the United Arab Emirates, 1971. Although different in culture, all three had the same commitment: To build their economies and improve the lives of their people.

In this race towards self-determination and prosperity — measured by gross domestic product (GDP) per capita — Singapore is currently ranked fourth globally, the United Arab Emirates ranked 12th, and Jamaica ranked 146th, representing a real GDP per capita of US$98,400 for Singapore, US$67,100 for the United Arab Emirates, and US$9,800 for Jamaica.

By comparison, the real GDP for these countries is US$561.3 billion, US$655.79 billion, an US$28.83 billion, respectively. Therefore, the average person from Singapore can purchase 10 times more than the average Jamaican. ( www.cia.gov/)

Why are these countries succeeding and we are not?

The data confirms two main reasons:

(1) these countries have an unswerving commitment to universal quality education for all their citizens, and

(2) their economies are geared towards value-add exports.

On the other hand, Jamaica has failed to offer quality education to most of our people and has pursued an economic policy of import substitution and protection for the past 50 years, which only creates monopolies to benefit a few.

I have consistently stated that Jamaica will never have true prosperity if we focus only on creating and selling products for our populace of three million. Our import substitution policy needs to be replaced by an urgent value-added, export-driven agenda.

Jamaica must immediately capitalise on our extraordinary advantages. We possess natural beauty; creative people; soil that gives our food an incomparable taste profile; proximity to North America (the largest consumer market in the world); and geographical positioning to take advantage of Europe, South America, and Asian trade routes.

In light of these, Jamaica needs to go all in with tourism, culture, agro-processing, logistics, special economic zones, and financial centres.

Recently, during a country briefing with officials of the United Arab Emirates and other multinational business interests attending Dubai’s World EXPO, Jampro President Dianne Edwards publicly declared that, “Jamaica is open for business.” In signalling Jamaica’s desire to create shared value between both countries, she outlined six investment opportunities for interested investors, namely the Caymanas Special Economic Zone (CSEZ), Just Fruits and Vegetables Limited (JFVL); Agriculture, Bamboo Bioproducts; Soapberry Water Treatment Plant; the Vernamfield Aerotropolis; and the Kingston Logistics Park. This move is a step in the right direction. Let’s also add a diversified tourism product to the list.

Bet on casino tourism

International tourism accounts for roughly 30 per cent of global trade in services. It is estimated that one out of every 11 jobs worldwide is directly or indirectly interlinked to tourism (International Trade Centre).

Jamaica has not begun to optimise its true tourism potential. Dubai attracts 16.7 million visitors annually, and Las Vegas — a five-mile strip in the Nevada desert — hosts 42 million per annum. Jamaica received 4.2 million tourists in 2019.

Last year I spoke of Jamaica’s benefits if we developed our tourism market to target retirees. This time, I want to focus on casino tourism. The average stopover spend from a tourist visiting Jamaica is US$1,400; cruise ship visitors spend an average US$107 ( Economic and Social Survey Jamaica 2020); while the average tourist spend in Dubai is US$4,700, more than three times that of Jamaica. Our Jamaican tourism product is sadly lacking in shopping, dining, entertainment, and gaming. If Jamaica were to add gaming to our tourism product it would be transformative and it would bring more tourists to our island, enhancing our entertainment and dining sectors.

In 2021 the market size of the global casinos and online gambling industry reached US$231 billion employing approximately one million people at nearly 500,000 establishments worldwide ( statista.com). The top five destinations for casino tourism are the United States (Vegas), Australia (Melbourne), The Bahamas (Nassau), Singapore, and Macau. In 2019, The Bahamas received approximately 7.25 million foreign visitor arrivals.

Several countries compete with our sun, sand, and sea offering in today’s global tourism market. Jamaica passed The Casino Gaming Act in June 2010, whereby investors would be granted a casino licence if they built a hotel with 2,000 hotel rooms. Over a decade later, nothing has happened, other than amendments to the Act in 2021 reducing room requirements.

A more implementable solution could be a standalone casino complex complete with entertainment facilities, multiple restaurants, expanded duty-free shopping, and a convention hall. The initial investment for such a vision could come from existing hotels within a ten-mile radius of the facility, making a capital contribution prorated to its room count. In other words, if this casino facility costs US$250 million to build, and was divided among 4,000 hotel rooms on the north coast, each hotel would invest US$25,000 per room. This plan assumes a 40 per cent equity stake and a 60 per cent loan to finance the facility. The hotel investors would recover their investment through the profits of the facility and a projected 20 per cent increase in their hotel occupancy. At an average room rate of US$250 per night, it would take only 100 nights to recover the capital invested. The required investment by the hotels would also be reduced based on this casino facility being listed on the Jamaican Stock Exchange allowing Jamaicans from all walks of life to invest and take ownership of the facility.

More often than not, our policies as leaders are misdirected and do not achieve their intended long-terms goals. Tourism claims to be one of the most significant contributors to our GDP, over 30 per cent. However, the actual value of its contribution should be the linkages to the rest of our economy, which we are not maximising. These linkages must be connected to our agriculture, transportation, and entertainment sectors.

After some 60 years of Independence, the fact that Jamaica is ranked 146 in the world on a per capita income basis relative to other countries that started in a similar position, is disheartening. It’s time we change the narrative in the remaining chapters of our Jamaican story with policies that foster real economic growth to move us from the bottom third to the top third in the world. Let’s start by maximising our real tourism potential and diversify.

Lisa Hanna is Member of Parliament for St Ann South Eastern, People’s National Party spokesperson on foreign affairs and foreign trade, and a former Cabinet member.