Today’s article is the last in our series, contributed by PricewaterhouseCoopers, on the retirement tourism industry. We thank you for following us carefully over the last few weeks and hope you have enjoyed reading these articles as much as we enjoyed writing them! To finish our series, today we invite you to imagine that it is 2020 and it has been ten years since Jamaica embarked on the journey to market itself as a retirement destination….

It’s official! Jamaica is the number one country for retirement abroad, according to the Global Retirement Index. Accolades to the pioneers of retirement tourism because it was only 10 years ago that Jamaica joined the contingent of countries offering retirement tourism (such as Mexico, Panama, and Costa Rica, etc); and in such a short time has snatched this coveted title from its contenders.

This achievement is indicative of the progress made by Jamaica as a country on a multidimensional level, and the Global Retirement Index (or “GRI”) communicates this on several accounts. The GRI considers eight factors of common concern to retirees and weighs them according to the perceived importance from a retiree’s point of view. Four of its eight indicators collectively have a weighting of 75per cent. These are Cost of Living (20per cent), Healthcare (20per cent), Special benefits (20per cent), and Real Estate (15per cent). Jamaica according to the survey has top ranking in each of these areas. The other four indicators, in which Jamaica also put up an admirable performance, account for 25per cent, and comprise; Entertainment, Recreation and Culture (10per cent), Infrastructure (5per cent), Safety and Stability (5per cent) and Climate (5per cent).

So why has Jamaica been so successful in attracting retirees to its shores? According to a recently commissioned survey, many have been attracted to the island’s relatively low cost of living, in part due to the increased competitiveness of the Jamaican economy. The lower cost of living has also been demonstrated in the affordability of our real estate options relative to the United States and especially in our retirement village offering. These retirement villages have attracted those seeking five-star standard living, but at a two-star price, and have sprung up in all our major tourism destinations, including; Negril, Ocho Rios, Montego Bay, St, Elizabeth and Portland. These resort-type villages have helped to diversify Jamaica’s tourism product, allowed us to tap new markets and increased the benefits flowing from the tourism industryin to our economy and society.

Of course, many retirement villagers are attracted to Jamaica by the traditional pleasures that the country offers to tourists. Frank, one of the first residents of Jamaica’s new retirement villages was featured in an International magazine on living abroad and was positively gushing about his retirement experience in Jamaica. “The experience is phenomenal! I just turned 64 last week, but in the 7 years since I’ve been living in Jamaica I swear I’ve got younger every day!!! My wife and I love to keep active, and Jamaica’s been great for us that way. There are just so many things to do and see here! We’ve seen a ton of waterfalls, visited countless beaches right across the country, eaten at restaurant in the mountains, on the beach, on boats, danced the night away in nightclubs in every town, and when we just want to sit and relax at home or enjoy the company of our friends back at the village, there’s nothing better than being able to sit outside and enjoy the warm Jamaican breeze and a glass of rum! My children and grand children come to visit often too – in fact I’m starting to wonder if they actually come here to visit us, or just to spend time on the beach!!” As Frank’s experience shows, the existence of retirement villages has also led to an increase in the number of new tourism attractions, as well as an improvement in the performance of existing ones. This has all augured well for the tourism industry, and visitor arrivals and visitor expenditure have been climbing at the fastest rate ever in a decade.

Diversification of the tourism product and improvement in Jamaica’s macro-economic performance are not the only that the only ways in which Jamaica has benefited. The communities in which retirement villages have been established have reaped numerous benefits, including increased direct employment in the facilities in question, as well as those created in spinoff industries such as health tourism and agriculture. A local farmer living near to Portland’s newest retirement village takes us through a farm tour that she offers to retirement villagers, who are interested in the medicinal values of Jamaican herbs. At the end of the tour, participants can be seen happily making their own concoctions of beverages or balms using ingredients from the farm! Next door, her neighbour, a broccoli and cabbage farmer, is also (literally!) reaping the rewards of retirement tourism. In the past, Franklyn Jones, or “Short-man”, as he prefers to be called, used to sell his goods at a low price to a wholesaler who would transport and sell them in Kingston. Since the completion of the new village, he has been able to sell directly to residents of the communities, and beams proudly that he has not been able to keep up with demand from retirees who pay a premium for his ‘organic’ produce!

Many retirees, keen to share the benefits of their years of experience and stay active at the same time, have also been actively involved in social and community work. At the St. Ann Homecoming Celebration held last year, the President of one Civic Association remarked in his speech to hundreds of Homecoming guests that “…the residents of the Vista Futurista Retirement Village, have contributed significantly to the upliftment of our community by adopting a basic school which was badly in need of repairs. The residents have also been an invaluable source of leadership to our young people through their participation in the numerous mentorship and training programmes that have been introduced throughout the parish.” Later on, when we spoke to him, he commented brightly that one student, quite elated at being mentored by an astronaut, was now avidly pursuing a career in astronomy!

The success of the Retirement Tourism industry no doubt owes a great deal to the legislative and marketing support provided to the industry in Jamaica. The incentive packages offered to retirees have provided considerable incentive for retirees to choose Jamaica over the myriad of choices that they have in the Caribbean and Latin American region, whilst helping to spur the generation of additional revenues and jobs that would not have otherwise existed. In addition, the stylish and sophisticated international “Live Jamaica” marketing campaign by the Jamaica Tourist Board has been invaluable in making Jamaica the world’s retirement destination of choice. This achievement has no doubt made a major contribution to the success that Jamaica has had in addressing its social and economic challenges over the last decade, and this writer, for one, looks forward to seeing the benefits that this remarkable industry will bring us over the next ten years.

Back to 2009

The retirement tourism industry is of course only one element of the solution for our socio-economic challenges, but making retirement tourism a success would help to generate the income necessary to fund our social and capital investment programmes, as well as provide valuable jobs in the hospitality industry – one in which we have no small amount of expertise!. The establishment of the industry is a major opportunity for us to fillip economic activity, increase revenues and investment and contribute to social advancement. Making Jamaica the number one retirement destination in this hemisphere would speak volumes about our country and its people. The question therefore should not be if, but when, will we embark on this important journey?

This series of articles was written by Darren Singh and Keisha Tingling, of PricewaterhouseCoopers. For further information, contact darren.j.singh@jm.pwc.com.