Flagged on flight - Over 200 Indians ordered home amid security concerns about some passengers on chartered carrier Some of the more than 200 Indians who arrived in Jamaica on a charter flight from Dubai told immigration officials that they had travelled to the island for a five-day tour, but checks of their itineraries revealed coverage for only one day. Gleaner immigration sources confirmed on the weekend that anomalies were initially picked up with travel arrangements for some of the group of mostly men while the flight was already airborne. On arrival at the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) in Kingston on Thursday, immigration officers discovered that there were also issues with the travel documents for some of the men. “For the purpose of the visit they said they were staying five days to tour the island but they had an itinerary for one day,” disclosed one immigration official who spoke with The Gleaner on condition of anonymity. The group was subsequently refused entry but allowed to remain in the island at the ROK Hotel in downtown Kingston for a few days on humanitarian grounds while arrangements for repatriation were being finalised. The Ministry of National Security has indicated that expenses are to be covered by operators of the airline company. They were scheduled to leave the island Tuesday, but up to press time last Monday night remained in the departure lounge at NMIA. Further, Gleaner sources confirmed that the group was transiting through the country, with some of its travellers reportedly destined for Nicaragua in the hopes of participating in a major housing development project in the Central American country. Others were to leave for Canada, sources said. The Gleaner has learnt that the police are investigating a possible human smuggling operation. The flight, carrying 253 Indians, German crew members, at least one French citizen, a national of Uzbekistan and a Russian landed in Jamaica on charter flight XG201 which transited through Cairo International Airport in Egypt from Dubai. The USC GmbH carrier on which they arrived is registered in Germany and operated by USC Aero, a company founded in 2020 by airline professionals. The Ministry of National Security, in a statement, said the flight arrived in Jamaica legally, having received the requisite approvals for operation from the JCAA. Hotels face tourism decline, massive financial reduction from water crisis Accommodation stakeholders in Negril, which spans Westmoreland and Hanover, have declared that having spent over $200 million on water storage since March they will not be able to withstand the potential financial fallout from reduced guest bookings if the resort town’s ongoing water woes are not swiftly resolved. Addressing a press conference at the Couples Swept Away Resort in Negril on Monday, Karen Lanigan, the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association’s (JHTA) Negril Chapter chairman, pointed to a survey conducted by her organisation which outlined that future bookings for hotels and resorts have been adversely affected by the water crisis. “The JHTA did a survey with accommodation providers, in which we asked, ‘Has the water crisis affected your future bookings?’ and 71 percent of the hoteliers said yes and 29 per cent said no. We asked, ‘Has the water crisis affected your business financially?’ and 100 per cent of our hoteliers said yes,” Lanigan outlined. “Since March, Negril hoteliers have spent over J$200 million on trucking water, and this is about 50 per cent more than what water usually costs them. It is a huge expense for the hotels of Negril, and it is a significant expense for a problem for which solutions were determined years ago,” Lanigan continued. “Twenty years ago we started talking about how we could get more water to Negril, and we are still here talking about it, and there has been no specific action happening at this time.” Lanigan recommended that the planned development of a major water project in Negril, which was previously announced by Minister with responsibility for Water Matthew Samuda in April this year, must begin before the start of the upcoming winter tourist season. “We cannot go through another winter season in the Negril area with no water. The financial implications are really serious for the businesses and the community of Negril, so what we are asking is to look at the plans that have been put in place and fastforward them,” said Lanigan. THE MONTHLY GLEANER | MAY 9 - JUNE 8, 2024 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | NEWS 2 WE WELCOME the Government’s commissioning of what Edmund Bartlett has described as a “multidimensional impact assessment” of Jamaica’s tourism sector, in preparation for the industry’s planned construction of 20,000 new hotel rooms over the next decade. HOPEFULLY, THIS study will not narrowly advance the interests of the tourism industry. It must be a robust analysis of tourism’s current and future economic, social and environmental footprint and what, in the context of global warming and climate change, will be the island saturation point for the industry’s expansion. Neither should this study stand on its own. It should fit within a broader matrix for pushing Jamaica up the production and productivity supply chain, so as to extricate itself from the low value-added, low-growth and low-wage environment in which it has been trapped for over four decades. In other words, this study must be an integral part of an industrial policy that, among other things, establishes strong and competitive linkages between tourism and the rest of the economy. There is little doubt about tourism’s importance to Jamaica’s economy – it directly accounts for around 13 per cent of gross domestic product – or of its resilience. After its collapse during the COVID19 pandemic, tourism arrivals have rebounded to the pre-pandemic level. An estimated 4.3 million tourists came to Jamaica in 2023-24. Sixty-nine per cent were stopover visitors. The industry directly employs more than 100,000 people, or over 10 per cent of the employed labour force. That figure, according to Mr Bartlett, rises to over 350,000 when tourism’s impact across the economy is taken into the account. CONTRIBUTION TO ECONOMY Of equal, or even greater, significance is tourism’s financial contribution to the economy. In the last fiscal year, according to the minister, it grossed US$4.38 billion, an increase of 9.6 per cent on the amount for 2022-23. And Mr Bartlett said that 40 per cent ( US$1.752 billion, or over J$271 billion) of that income remained in Jamaica, meaning 40 cents out of every dollar earned by tourism is spent in the domestic economy or stays in Jamaican bank accounts (as opposed to the portion that goes to foreign goods and service providers) to keep the industry going. The external costs include those associated with bringing tourists to the island, such as paying for airline tickets; marketing and advertising expenditures; the amortisation of foreign capital employed in developing the tourism infrastructure; repatriated profits; and the money spent on imports for the industry, including food and drink. Some people will be surprised at that reported level of retention, which is higher than many of Jamaica’s Caribbean peers, although it lags behind global competitors with stronger industrial and agricultural bases. While tourism’s gross earnings, US$4.38 billion, makes it Jamaica’s biggest earner of foreign exchange, Mr Bartlett’s estimate of a 40 per cent (US$1.75 billion) domestic retention places second, after remittances, as the sector with respect to direct circulation in the local economy. According to central bank data, Jamaicans abroad last year sent home US$3.1 billion, or 46 per cent more than tourism’s domestic retention. However, the gross take from tourism was over 130 per cent more than the island earned from its merchandise exports, although the domestically retained portion was 92 per cent the value of all the island’s visible exports. CLOSING THE GAP However, Jamaica’s imports of US$7.7 billion worth of visible imports is more than four times its merchandise exports. Tourism plays a major role in closing the gap. A significant chunk of those imports, though, are consumed by the tourists in much of the food they eat, the beds they sleep in, the vehicles which transport them – and even souvenirs they purchase. According to Mr Bartlett, the industry has an annual demand for J$365 billion (US$2.34 billion) worth of visible goods. Some of what is now imported could, presumably, be offset with domestic production. That requires increased production and improved linkages between tourism and the rest of the economy. Or, as Mr Bartlett said: “We have to invest more on the supply side, so that the 40 cents (on the dollar) that stays here can become 50 or 60, because the less we import is the more we retain.” There are low-hanging fruits that Jamaica could pick with relative ease, starting with food. The island’s food import bill is US$1.4 billion, a large portion of which goes to feeding tourists. Experts say that between a fifth and a quarter of the imported food could be substituted with domestic production, saving between US$280 million and US$350 million. Some of that money could be invested in modernising agriculture and agroprocessing, or diverted to other areas of production. But these things will not happen on a wish. And they ought not to be left to a slow evolution. Partnerships between the Government, the private sector and other key sectors and institutions, including those involved in education and innovation, will help to hasten the creation of the necessary environment. Which makes studies like the one announced by Mr Bartlett important. So, too, is the need to remove the shroud of indecency from the concept of an industrial policy. Tourism and production [EDITORIAL] [NEWS BRIEF] Braata’s 15th anniversary Crystal Gala was held at Greentree Country Club. The honourees, pictured from left: Tamar Greene, Richard David, Rev. PierreAndre Duvert, Vinette Guthrie-Matthews and Karlene Largie. Not pictured: I. Daneek Miller. CONTRIBUTED
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