KINGSTON, Jamaica – (JIS) The Ministries of Tourism and Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, are to collaborate on the development of a sports tourism policy.
Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett, speaking in the 2008/09 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Wednesday (May 14), said that a team comprising representatives from both ministries and key figures from the sporting arena will be established to formulate the policy. The move, he said, was in recognition of the impact that sports tourism has on the country’s growth and development.
“Sports tourism is an area of great emphasis for us. We are establishing a team with the Ministry of Sports and some of the leaders of the main sporting activities that bring visitors to the island – cricket, football, athletics, golf, basketball, and so on, recognizing that we have tremendous facilities, some of which are very idle, that can be fully utilized and can bring (in) investments, income, and jobs to the people of our country,” the Minister stated.
He informed that the Government was looking to fully and better utilize a number of facilities, including the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium, Sabina Park, and the National Stadium, “as we try to bring in large sporting events over the next few years.”
Mr. Bartlett also announced plans to aggressively promote Jamaica as a golf destination in a bid to “develop the top-end of our (tourism) market.”
“There are so many good reasons for this. our proximity to the world’s largest outbound (tourism) market – the United States; our excellent all-year round climate; our good airlift; our 12 world class golf courses, our highly trained caddies, and indeed our out of this world presence in the marketplace. (These) are all driving forces that are propelling players of all category and variety to come,” Mr. Bartlett stated, adding that 32 million people live in Jamaica’s primary tourism destinations, who are driven by the sport of golf.
