Tourism: "One More Cup of Coffee" says Tourism Minister

-Jamaica Observer

In 2016, Tourism minister Bartlett appointed the Gastronomy Network, a sub-group of the TLN, to promote and offer support to Jamaican cuisine, under which the Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee falls. The network, which is chaired by Nicola Madden-Greig, has placed special focus on the coffee industry, with projects such as the Blue Mountain Culinary Trail launching earlier this year and the upcoming Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival, scheduled for early 2018.

“The Festival and our other culinary projects offer us an opportunity for deepening the linkages between tourism and the agro-processing industry while strengthening the hand of our sales teams in the markets of the world and opening up opportunities for our people to benefit in a direct way from their participation in the tourism experience,” said Minister Bartlett.

The Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival will be a three-day event in the Blue Mountain region. It is expected to feature activities such as training and development seminars for coffee farmers; coffee farm and factory tours; culinary tours and experiences; and a coffee exhibition. International coffee buyers will also be invited to attend the festival.

“I want us to build a coffee experience like no other for our visitors and locals to enjoy. It is my vision to bring thousands of visitors annually to destination Jamaica to experience the gastronomy tourism as we utilise various elements of it that are endemic to different geographic areas. What better start than our famous JBM coffee, which is synonymous with Brand Jamaica?” said Minister Bartlett.

He also noted that a key part of the strategy being developed is to ensure that more of the earnings from the industry are retained locally to aid in increasing the productivity level of coffee.

“Not only do food festivals attract visitors, thus stimulating tourism, but they also promote growth and create more business opportunities for people in the communities. Currently 30 per cent of every dollar is retained and it is expected to improve to 40 per cent, bringing the country closer to the projections of US$2 billion in net earnings by 2020. However, in order for us to see greater retention of the tourism dollars, we have to own more of the consumption side of tourism and build the capacity of our people to deliver on the experience,” he said.

In a message sent to the launch due to his involvement with a press briefing at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries (MICAF), portfolio minister, Karl Samuda, said that for agriculture to be sustainable, the country must ensure that its products and produce have consistent access to viable markets, including the expanding tourism/hospitality market.

Chairman of the Jamaica Coffee Exporters Association (JCEA), Norman Grant, said statistics from the Coffee Industry Board (CIB) indicate that the local industry was estimated to value between US$50 million and US$60 million in 2017.

He said that global coffee exports were estimated at some US$20 billion, and was a huge industry made up mainly of coffee drinkers in industrialised countries.