Sectoral Presentation 2 0 1 3 -2 0 1 4 The Hon Dr. W ykeham - PDF document

P a g e | 1 Sectoral Presentation 2 0 1 3 -2 0 1 4 The Hon Dr. W ykeham McNeill, M.P. Minister of Tourism & Entertainm ent Tuesday, 2 nd July, 2 0 1 3 Gordon House, Kingston Them e: A Sector for the People: Making Tourism for Us All Salutations Mr. Speaker, I am extremely pleased to rise to make my contribution to the Sectoral Debate, and I would like to thank the Most Honourable Prime Minister for affording me the opportunity to serve in the capacity of Minister of Tourism and Entertainment. Congratulations to the Speaker, Clerk and the committed staff of the House for the good job you have been doing. I also wish to acknowledge and thank my immediate family, my wife Sheila, our two children, my mother and my extended family for their unwavering support over the years that I have executed my duties. I extend special thanks to my constituents in Western Westmoreland, Mayor Bertel Moore, the Councillors and my management team. Mr. Speaker, without their support, I would not have had the privilege of addressing this Honourable House in this capacity. And most of all, I thank God for blessing me with health and strength. Mr. Speaker, as our nation seeks to navigate through this global economic storm, I believe that this is a very crucial time for the tourism sector as we seek to lay a firm foundation for the sustainable development of our country. I am pleased to inform this Honourable House and all Jamaicans that, despite the many challenges facing our tourism sector, it

P a g e | 2 continues to perform well, due largely to the support of our committed tourism partners and the diligent efforts of the outstanding team I have the pleasure of leading. Mr. Speaker, I wish to express my sincere appreciation to my Minister of State and the entire team at the Ministry and its agencies led by the Permanent Secretary. I also want to commend the chairpersons of the boards of the respective agencies within the Ministry, and their hardworking board members. Mr. Speaker I want to also acknowledge the Chairmen of the six Resort Boards. I want to specially thank the President of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, Mrs. Evelyn Smith and her Executive for the cooperation and support that they have provided over the last year. They have been an integral part of the process of leading a sector that is so important to us all. This has been demonstrated on a number of occasions Mr. Speaker: • The pivotal role they played during the budget debate discussions on the industry taxes last year. • Their participation in the ongoing initiatives to strengthen the linkages between tourism and other sectors. • Their contribution to the ongoing initiatives to implement worker benefits. • Their input in the planned implementation of an energy efficiency programme within small hotels; among a number of other ventures. Mr. Speaker, I believe the JHTA has found the perfect balance between sector advocacy and looking out for the national interest and I have to commend them.

P a g e | 3 I look forward to continuing to work with all our tourism partners, working together for the good of our nation. Focusing the Vision for Tourism Mr. Speaker, on the 21 st of July 2009, four years ago I rose before this Honourable House to address our nation as Opposition Spokesman on Tourism. I took the opportunity to remind the then Minister of Tourism to treat his stewardship as if it were a leg in a relay. Mr. Speaker, I do not believe at the time he would have imagined that his leg of the relay would be but a quick dash. Three years later, the baton has once again passed on for, what I believe will be, a leg of endurance. Moving forward, I believe we must continue to pay attention to the traditional measures of success such as arrivals and occupancy levels. However Mr. Speaker, we have to transition to an approach which focuses on the impact on and contribution of tourism to national development. So, in my speech today I will begin with an overview of the industry and outline some sector initiatives that have been undertaken. I will then spend some time articulating strategies and efforts to: • Deepen and broaden the connections of tourism to the other sectors of the economy • Integrate tourism more meaningfully into communities • Ensure the long term welfare of the workers • Stimulate investment activities and transformation as well as development projects. Mr. Speaker, given the time constraints for this presentation, I can only highlight some of the issues within the sector and State

P a g e | 4 Minister Crawford will expand on others as he makes his presentation later. Overview Mr. Speaker, the tourism sector continues to demonstrate its resilience to the global economic climate. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Mr. Speaker reported that international tourist arrivals grew by 3.8% in 2012 to surpass the one billion mark for the first time in history. While international arrivals for 2013 are forecasted to increase by 3% -4% . Nonetheless the economic outlook in our major markets the USA, Canada and the UK remains conservative. The US economic recovery appears slow though consumer confidence is improving with spending following suit. The Canadian travel professionals have reported a slowdown in business after a relatively lukewarm winter performance. On the other side of the Atlantic the UK stock market activities have reached record levels sparking speculation that business confidence is on its way back and the economy is moving towards growth. However the effect of the increases in the APD continues to stymie the appetite for travel to the Caribbean. This snapshot of the market conditions we face, Mr. Speaker, serves to put into perspective the environment in which we are doing business today and assists in understanding how hard- earned are any gains we may make.

P a g e | 5 With this said Mr. Speaker, last year Jamaica had growth in stopover visitor arrivals of 1.8% and cruise arrivals were up by 17.3% . As has been reported, stopovers for the winter period this year were down marginally by 3.1% , mainly due to a decrease in air seats out of Canada and a contraction in available room-stock here in Jamaica. However, Mr. Speaker, based on our market research, airlift and forward bookings, the prospects for the summer are looking good. Importantly our airlift is up, especially out of Canada and we have concluded arrangements for additional seats out of the UK and Europe. We have already had growth in stopover arrivals in May (2.3% ) and June (3.2% ). On a more positive note, figures for May, the first month of the summer, are showing a rebound in the Canadian market (9.0% ) and in May we returned to growth out of the UK for the first time in a long while ( almost 10% ). Just yesterday, Mr. Speaker, we welcomed the arrival of the inaugural flight of Air Canada’s new leisure carrier Rouge, at the Norman Manley International Airport. This marked a truly historic occasion as this was the first flight by the carrier anywhere in the world. Mr. Speaker, they could have gone to any destination, but they chose Jamaica. This speaks volumes of the strong relationship between Jamaica and our Canadian tourism partners. We are confident that the addition of this innovative new vacation airline will bolster our efforts to boost arrivals out of Canada, which is now our second biggest source market. Mr. Speaker, in terms of cruise shipping, we expect to finish this year marginally down. But we have to view this in the context of two phenomenal years of growth after the opening of the Falmouth pier.

P a g e | 6 This year we will welcome Disney cruises to Jamaica for the first time. The introduction of such a strong brand to Jamaica is tremendous. They will be bringing to Falmouth both the Disney Wonder and Fantasy, the former having its inaugural cruise in October this year. We are also concentrating on home porting and Montego Bay will see the AIDA bella as well as the Louis Cristal Cuba cruises home porting there, starting in November and December of this year respectively. In addition, Mr. Speaker, there is good news for Ocho Rios. Next year we will see the Norwegian Epic going there for the first time and Royal Caribbean will be returning to this port. Mr. Speaker the forecast is that by the end of 2014 cruise ship arrivals to Jamaica will surpass the 1.4 million mark for the first time. Mr. Speaker, I have every confidence that the tourism sector will meet the expectations we are placing on it, as the path ahead continues to offer promise of further growth, and destination Jamaica retains its international competitive edge. Sector I nitiatives Last year, Mr. Speaker, I spoke about several initiatives that I believed would significantly boost sector performance. I now want to turn your attention to a number of them that have been implemented and update the House on their progress. Market Diversification Mr. Speaker, we have enjoyed success in our drive to diversify our source markets. While we still maintain a clear-eyed focus on our traditional markets of the US, Canada and Western Europe, we have successfully reached into Latin America and the Eastern European markets.