Jamaica’s Tourism Minister Pieces Together All-Star Team

A diverse team of high-level players, in and outside the tourism industry, has been assembled by Minister Ed Bartlett to drive the sector’s development, the Jamaica Observer has learnt.

“This is in keeping with the growth mandate of the Andrew Holness-led Government,” a highly placed source with knowledge of the development, told the

According to the source, who opted not to be named, the list, which he described as a “super team”, includes Adam Stewart, CEO and deputy chairman of Sandals Resorts International and the ATL Group; Ian Dear, Margaritaville Caribbean chairman and CEO; John Lynch, former director of tourism and a renowned leader in the sector; Godfrey Dyer, hotelier; Geoffrey Messado, chartered accountant; Donald Hawkins, the Eisenhower professor of Tourism Policy at George Washington University in Washington, DC; and Delano Seiveright, projects and communications consultant who is a former Jamaica Labour Party candidate and former president of the JLP’s youth affiliate Generation 2000.

Yesterday, when the Observer contacted Seiveright, who is an advisor to Bartlett, he declined to comment on the board appointments, offering only that “the process is still ongoing”. However, he said that Bartlett “has sought to pull together a dynamic and energetic team that will be tasked with aggressively growing visitor numbers and revenues while significantly enhancing the tourism product and, importantly, better spreading around the benefits to many more Jamaicans”.

He said that because tourism is Jamaica’s largest sector, it has “the biggest potential and will be the biggest contributor to the growth agenda”.

“The minister has already hit the ground running,” Seiveright added. According to our source, Stewart, who is also deputy chairman of the

Observer, has been asked to chair the Tourism Linkages Hub, a priority initiative first promulgated by Bartlett when he was tourism minister in the Bruce Golding-led Administration and built out under the last Government.

The primary objective of the Tourism Linkages Hub is to increase the consumption of goods and services that can be competitively sourced locally. It also aims to create employment while generating and retaining the country’s foreign exchange earning potential.

Dear, who manages Margaritaville Caribbean, is tipped to be the new chairman of the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), which is mandated to ensure that the physical, social and environmental aspects of the resort areas and their offerings are of a standard conducive to a great vacation experience.

The agency also facilitates the development of tourism-related projects by providing expertise and consultations. In addition, it adopts, sets, and promotes standards, guidelines and checklists for the industry in order to attain global competitiveness.

Lynch, who has more than 35 years’ experience at the highest levels of the industry, is tipped to take up the chairmanship of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB). He played a lead role in working with Bartlett, who appointed him director of tourism in 2008, in successfully steering Jamaica through the global economic recession, keeping the island firmly on a growth path.

The JTB is responsible for the worldwide marketing and promotion of Jamaica as a preferred travel destination. It is also mandated to identify new and emerging consumer groups; cultivate new relationships with travel partners and disseminate timely and useful marketing information to its offices and travel partners worldwide.

Other industry players tipped to sit on the board include Sandals Resorts International executive Wayne Cummings, and Round Hill’s Josef Forstmayr, both former presidents of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association; and Iberostar’s Phillip Hofer.

Dyer, a veteran of the industry, is to chair the Tourism Enhancement Fund, which facilitates the implementation of the Tourism Master Plan toward the strengthening of the industry through prompt collection of fees – US$20 from visitors who travel by air, US$2 from cruise passengers, and the funding of projects and programmes which impact the growth and development of the tourism sector.

Seiveright and businessman Joey Issa are also said to be on the new board. Messado, our source said, is likely to chair the board of Devon House Development Company.

Located on 11 acres in Kingston, Devon House has been a designated national monument since September 1990.

Devon House Development Company oversees the re-development of Devon House and manages its promotion and maintenance as a cultural attraction and centre of activity in the capital city. Other persons tipped to sit on that board are businesswomen Diana Stewart of Stewart’s Auto, and Thalia Lyn of Island Grill.

Meanwhile, Professor Hawkins, regarded as an international global tourism expert, is expected to give support to Bartlett’s policy directions and specific initiatives to be undertaken soon.

Professor Hawkins received the first United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Ulysses Prize for individual accomplishments in the creation and dissemination of knowledge in the area of tourism policy and strategic management. In 2012 he was elected vice-chairman of the UNWTO Affiliates Council and appointed special advisor to the UNWTO secretary-general for the Knowledge Network.

Source: The Jamaica Observer