... The elephants along the coast

“Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late one that is open” -Graham Alexander Bell.

This is by no means an anti-allinclusive discourse. In fact, Butch Stewart and John Issa ought to be venerated for hedging on Brand Jamaica at a time when the multinationals fled from Manley’s nationalism campaign. With that said, there are sufficient reasons for all Jamaicans to be concerned about the rise of the modern all-inclusive sector.

‘SPANISH IMPOSITION’

Arguably, the advent of what may be gently referred to as the ‘Spanish imposition’ has ushered in a new phase of the plantation economy. Consequently, while we revel in the efficacy of the island’s investment incentive schemes in attracting foreign direct investment in the hotel sector, very little is being openly said about the numerous related challenges that have emerged with the expansion of these mega chains.

This includes the very fact that our indigenous hotel sector that employed thousands of Jamaicans in varied capacities is now struggling to compete against much larger properties, whose socio-economic benefits to Jamaicans remain questionable. In fact, there is a growing perception that we have returned to the pre1970s employment dilemma. Therefore, though more Jamaicans are being hired as a consequence of the increasing room stock, even fewer are being given an opportunity for coveted managerial positions. Instead, Jamaicans appear to be better suited for menial employment statuses, leading to our youth shunning jobs in the sector, and suggestively resulting in increased levels of crime in western Jamaica.

Rather than inclusivity, these large properties seem to be driving up the degree of economic leakage. The United Nations Environment Programme suggests that the island retains less than five cents of every dollar earned by foreign-owned allinclusives. Profits are usually repatriated to their home countries; while expatriate managers transfer their huge salaries to their offshore accounts. At the beginning of the 1990s, Jamaica was perhaps the only Caribbean island able to assert a retention of eighty-five cents out of every dollar. Today, less than 30 cents trickle into the local economy, raising real questions regarding the value of this resource-dependent industry.

The changing tides of global tourists’ demand does, however, suggest that the continued failure to drastically re-valuate Jamaica’s current non-inclusive model may soon result in dwindling arrivals and tourist expenditure. As the boomers decline, the millennials will rise. The country’s policymakers surely recognise the imperatives of devising a pro-poor tourism strategy that will allow more direct benefits to Jamaicans, while also ensuring that the current boom doesn’t end with the boomers. Similarly, while we celebrate the declining crime rates in St James, we must also realise that spreading the benefits of tourism will be the only way to effectively enhance the security measures in Montego Bay and its environs.