Fuse tourism with other industries, says Scotia VP

Scotiabank executive Vice-President Anya Schnoor has suggested that the tourism sector be fused with other industries in Jamaica's wider economy.

Schnoor noted that such a move should be a top priority among the island's leaders, as the tourism sector is one of the most promising to contribute to financial growth.

"If we have seen, over the last 10 years, that the amount of investment has not fundamentally improved the economy's standing, then we are going to get the same results if we continue doing the same things," she told The Gleaner yesterday.

According to Schnoor, Jamaica does not suffer from lack of investment as the country has seen a "record" number of foreign direct investments (FDI) within the decade.

However, she stated that Jamaica does not have the right environment to encourage economic growth and the creation of jobs.

To emphasise her point, Schnoor used the hotel infrastructure along the island's north coast as an example. She noted that while the hotels employ some Jamaicans, the foreign exchange that is earned is pumped away from the country.

"(Of) everything (purchased by hotels), such as furniture, food and liquor - most of it is bought overseas.

"What we have to do is go to the hotels and say, look, here are all the things you need for the hotel and we want you to buy these 10 items only from Jamaica," she said.

Schnoor explained that this would give the economy a boost and complement other sectors while attracting more investment.

"When you have a guaranteed (purchaser) of lettuce, then investors would say let me set up massive lettuce production with greenhouse technology because (farmers) would have guaranteed orders from the tourist industry. Then we encourage agriculture," she said.

Limited integration

Schnoor outlined the years 2001-2009, during which the "lion's share" of Jamaica's FDI was being distributed to the information and technology and communication, mining and tourism sectors.

While these three sectors employ many Jamaicans, Schnoor insisted that their limited integration with the rest of the economy stunted the overall gross domestic product.

"What we have seen is all this money has come in and it hasn't moved the economic needle at all.

"Yes, we could build 10 more hotels, but nothing is going to change. Every dollar (tourists) spend here goes out," she said.

- L.R.