PIOJ Growth-Inducement Strategy - Planning Institute of Jamaica

6.0 Logistics are Essential for Tourism Growth
Logistics are also a key determinant of productivity and competitiveness for the Tourism
sector. In this case, the principal freight or cargo moved is people - from the airport to
the hotel and cruise ships to beaches and attractions. In the past, the internal transfers or
transit time to their accommodation for many guests exceeded the international leg of
their journey, particularly in the case of visitors from the eastern seaboard of the U.S.
Improvements in the logistics through modern air terminal facilities at Donald Sangster
International Airport, the upgraded North Coast Road and Falmouth terminal have
significantly increased both the absorptive capacity as evidenced by the mega-hotels
constructed and the expansion of economic activity along the sections of the highway
with good transit times.
As the competition in sun, sea and sand tourism increases, innovative responses seek to
differentiate Jamaica’s tourism product from others, particularly in areas of unassailable
competitive advantage. Opportunities for higher value creation and differentiation exist in
areas such as health services, adventure and culture tourism. Jamaica’s medical facilities
train and export excellent professionals. Hiking in the Blue Mountains or rafting in the
many rural rivers remains largely untapped. The world-renowned cultural heritage is still
under-leveraged. Increasingly the trend is for hotels to include trips to specific
communities as part of culture tourism or community tourism in direct contrast to the all–
inclusive model which Jamaica pioneered. Communities on the other hand are also
seizing the initiative to upgrade their environment to take advantage of this opportunity
for increasing their income by sharing rich daily experiences of food, culture and natural
scenic beauty with tourists.
Logistics will be an essential element to sustain and grow this sector. Timely and
comfortable transport to the rural locations will require a strategic rural road network that
could be maintained by Parish Councils or even these very communities. The planning
for movement of visitors, including the arranging of timely supplies of food and other
inputs, and accommodation of visitors, are all elements of a logistics network that will
determine the success of this exciting and much more embracing concept of tourism - a
concept of tourism that also provides direct benefits to the wider community.
Related efforts to improve the North-South connection and the possibilities of reducing
the transit time from Ocho Rios to Kingston to comfortably less than 2 hours hold
phenomenal opportunities for leveraging the country’s global cultural advantage and
increasing the absorptive capacity and distribution of tourism benefits within the local
economy at all levels. Such improved travel times would make a combination of the
North Coast and culture capital Kingston possible with tours to the Bob Marley museum,
theatrical performances and Trench Town locales with the consequent improvement in
value-added spin off to communities and the differentiation of the Jamaica tourism
product.
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