THE Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) is reporting that it managed to collect up to 65 per cent of the $206.5 million owed to it in fees by airlines and cruises for the 2020/2021 financial year, a massive reduction compared to $8.12 billion in the previous year.

In its latest annual report now before Parliament, the fund attributed the severe decline in revenue to the novel coronavirus pandemic which brought flights and cruises to a halt in 2020 and resulted in an 81 per cent decline in passengers — and, by extension, fees. In 2019/20 the agency collected $7.93 billion from airlines and $223.6 million from cruise lines.

The TEF collects US$20 from each airline visitor to the island and US$2 from cruise passengers, which is then fed into the Consolidated Fund managed by the finance ministry. This arrangement for transfer to the Government’s central coffers started in 2017, and as a result the finance ministry must approve the relocation of funds throughout the year, on a monthly basis.

At the time, there were objections from various interests who felt the TEF should continue to manage its own revenues and that projects would suffer as a result of this new central management system. Notably, unused funds from a previous fiscal period cannot be added to a new budget.

“We ensure that its projects are managed properly and that expenditures are undertaken in a manner that achieved the stated objectives,” the TEF pointed out in reference to projects which are not completed in one fiscal year, for which funds required for said completion are then taken from the next budget.

The fund says its board met 12 times in 2020 to discuss the approval and disbursement of the allocations funds for each month, noting that the country earned US$720 million from tourism in the 2020/2021 financial year.

The final approved budget for the 2019/2020 financial year was $2.96 billion and expenditure was $2.89 billion. “This reflected the prudent management of funds by the board of directors,” the tourism agency pointed out. Projects accounted for $2.25 billion.

Between April and December 2020, 306,276 visitors came to the island, reflecting an 83.1 per cent decline from the same period of 2019. At the same time, stopover arrivals from January to March 2021 declined by 71.9 per cent. Its annual budget was slashed three times in the affected financial year, and some planned projects were pushed back. The numbers picked up from January to March 2021 which saw 161,276 visitor arrivals, but this was still an 84.2 per cent decline in visitor arrivals compared to the similar period in 2020.

“Fortunately, despite the pandemic-induced setbacks, Jamaica has maintained its reputation as one of the prime tourist destinations because of its success in promoting sustainable tourism. Jamaica has given considerable attention to the development of human and natural resources through its strategic focus on community tourism, high-quality training for tourist workers, as well as the execution of transformative infrastructure projects,” the TEF said.

Furthermore, the fund transferred $161.7 million to the Consolidated Fund for airlines and spent $2.89 billion, $7 million less than its final budget.

“This reflected the prudent management of funds by the board of directors. Before COVID-19 the bulk of the funds – $2.25 billion — was reserved for rehabilitation, maintenance, and repairs projects. Due to budgetary adjustments this figure was later lowered to $1.69 billion,” the TEF explained.