My Two Cents » Who Really Benefits from Tourism? : A Jamaica Gleaner Blog

Who Really Benefits from Tourism?

The minister of tourism, the honourable Edmund Bartlett, has announced that the government is expecting a five percent increase in tourist arrivals. This no doubt is good news but it raises questions about whether the public will benefit from these additional visitors.

Every year there has been an increase in visitor arrivals but it seems that all sectors are complaining about not getting a piece of the pie. The craft vendors complain that they are not getting any visitors to their locations. They say that the number of visitors to their stalls is decreasing each year. The duty free shops have the same complaints and state that they too are not seeing the visitors. Farmers complain that they do not receive orders for goods from the hotels and are selling primarily to the local markets. Lastly the hotels themselves say that they are not making any money from tourism as the rates have to be discounted significantly in order to attract visitors.

If we are to believe all of these parties then the obvious question is – ‘who benefits from tourism?’ If no one is benefiting from tourism then how are hotels surviving and why are new hotels being built? A basic concept of finance is that if a business continues to lose money each year then it will have to shut down. Currently I have not heard of any major player in the hotel market closing its doors although many small operations have shut.

The bigger question arises as to whether we are engaging in the wrong business or are we simply doing tourism the wrong way. If the aim of investment is to promote economic growth but everyone says that they are not reaping the rewards then perhaps the government needs to encourage investment in other areas. Significant tax breaks have been given over the years and now that some of them are being removed the industry is struggling to survive. There are other areas of investment that could benefit from these incentives that might provide the benefits to the public that are so badly needed.

I think that the model for tourism and the type of tourist that we wish to come needs to be rethought. It makes no sense to offer a product that can’t make any money. Despite the significant investment and incentives, the devaluation of the currency and the increase in visitors we still lag behind other tourist destinations. It is either that our concept of tourism does not work or those who are managing it are incapable of making it succeed. It seems to me that new ideas are needed in relation to how the country can reap maximum benefits from tourism if after 30 years of tourism there is no one who claims to be doing well from it.

Older Entries

Newer Entries

The opinions on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner.
The Gleaner reserves the right not to publish comments that may be deemed libelous, derogatory or indecent.
To respond to The Gleaner please use the feedback form.

5 Responses to “Who Really Benefits from Tourism?”

Jo Bent says:

December 23, 2010 at 2:44 pm

Of course there will be an increase of ppl coming here, the arrangements made by Bartlett with the airlines on air fares for tourists
routes that were sold is a joke, then the rooms R offered dirt cheap while hoteliers take the bulk of the money while paying slave
wages to its workers, the equivilence of US$81.00 wkly .

No country that is as populated as JA can see its ppl benifit from this kind of ;ourism;as I often say tourism and agriculture alone cannot maintain our country, especially now that higglering has become our main employment it seem, all these sellers will soon sell to themselves, and recently it was stupidly agreed for visitors to buy Prada & LV upon arriving at cheap rates,is this the only way investors will touch jA? so how is the craft vendors going to go up against that, adding to the fact these visitors R being kept, entertained and mirco-managed on these cheap all inclusive pkges, some pkgs R US$285.00 all inclusive, JAs do not benifit from this in no way.

We outdo the other Islands because JA is on sale for cheap AirJa,cement, flour,sugar, our
culture, pride & morals all around both ppl and things, I dont want to beat up on our country but we have to move in a better direction to produced, and each one work to make this a safe and sucessful country, the leaks R leaving bad tastes in my mouth, and one have to wonder what the hell next. We have to love this country and all work together to build it back to pre 1962 values when there was less with better values and lives.At the
same time we can welcome visitors with pride
and be paid handsomely for our servitude in that area.
guest says:

December 23, 2010 at 9:02 pm

I think you’re on the right track when you say that we’re not doing it right.

1. A staff member of the RIU Negril was shot in the lobby by one of three armed gunmen Tuesday night and neither the hotel, the Gleaner or the Observer has mentioned it publicly to my knowledge (The Star Online did post a note on Wednesday.) Hundreds of foreign and local tourists saw the event and this type of covered-up info will leave a bad taste in their mouths (and it will no doubt spread on the travel forums when they return home.) SECURITY must be better! And TRUST must be earned!

2. Street and beach vendors are often extremely pushy, rude and overly aggressive. Nothing against them trying to make a sale, but many go far beyond that by making it sound like they and their kids will all die if you don’t buy something from them. Desperate sellers make tourists think they’re about to get ripped off when pushed too hard. Most leave without buying. TOURISM ETIQUETTE and professionalism is needed if these people want to attract buyers and sell more product.

3. SAFETY issues must also be addressed. Many hotels actively dissuade visitors from venturing onto the streets, saying it is far too dangerous. In many cases it is, or at least appears to be unsafe. Vendors and hotels must work together to provide safe shopping, dining and other opportunities outside of the complexes.

4. Extortionate pricing on services such as taxis and destination activities turns MANY people off and keeps them locked up in the all-inclusives. With this comes lost opportunities for neighboring vendors, restaurants, etc. Savvy tourists won’t spend 30 US dollars on a taxi ride from 7 mile strip to Rick’s Cafe once they realize they’re getting ripped off compared to regular taxi services.

5. As a seasoned traveler both at home and abroad, I think it’s all about value, real or perceived. And honesty. Most tourists are not stupid. You can’t promote your wood carvings as hand-crafted by an old carver high in the mountains when the piece is marked Made in China, or is exactly the same as the dozens you see in the stalls of hundreds of vendors island-wide. Jamaicans are creative people. We need to show it rather than sell copy-cat items.

As for earnings, of course some of them are making money. Why else would the chains such as RIU, Couples, Sandals, Breezes, etc. open multiple hotels if they’re not making money? How much they declare may be another story.
Dr Joan Porteous says:

December 24, 2010 at 9:04 am

Excellent questions although thirty years late.
Tourism and it’s all inclusive package is excluding black Jamaicans from the investment end.

The billions of dollars subsidies given to hoteliers via Air Jamaica and the airlift tourist deal to American airlines are wicked acts committed on the poor people of Jamaica.

But where is the return on Jamaican Governemt subsidies/ investment in Tourism after so many years?

What is the contribution in tax dollars from tourism? What percentage of the population are employed by the hotels? How many people are directly employed by the hotels?What pecentage of local poducts are being utilized by the tourism industry?

Blacks participation in tourism is only providing the labour force. Those who manipulate the business ensure exclusion of black businessmen.
johnjohn says:

December 24, 2010 at 12:15 pm

It is therefore obvious that the returns from the sector is not been accurately reported. if no hotels are been closed and new ones are been built it is obvious that there are factors that keep them afloat. is it loans or it is equity, I doubt it. it is most likley profit.
I agree that “doing well” is relative but they (hotels) seem to be doing well enough to survive. I guess what everybody wants is super profit and this is not always possible in a competitive environment. Just take at look at how many new hotels have been built in the last five years, how many have been sold (changed hands) and how many sales are currently been negoitated.
Mrs. Plummer says:

December 25, 2010 at 1:44 pm

There are profits from tourism and that money is taken out of Jamaica. The cruisers don’t leave much, but they spend plenty…who gets it? the tourist “INDUSTRY”, which are huge multinational companies, owned by very rich…getting richer investors. they bring the boats and planes, but act a tight gate keepers to drain off any money before the Jamaican public can get it. Our island is…for them… an attractive toilet, garbage dump and resource of WATER…and that’s all they want JA for. YES, rethink TourisM!