Minister of Tourism Visits Lashings

The Hon Edmund Bartlett and the Lashings team

Lashings was honoured to host the Minister of Tourism, the Hon Edmund Bartlett, this week as part of his "Destination Assurance" tour of Jamaica's south coast. Treasure Beach was one of the stops on the latest leg of the tour, which included visits to key locations in St Elizabeth and Manchester.

Mr Bartlett was impressed with the work Lashings has been doing to plant more trees at its Beach Club and inspected the new irrigation system using recycled “grey water”. He also thanked the Treasure Beach stakeholders for their contribution to the growing tourism economy in Jamaica. Treasure Beach is known for its community tourism and offers accommodation unique to the rest of the island, with its independently owned hotels and villas.

Lashings owner David Folb chats to Mr Bartlett

The number of tourists coming to Jamaica jumped nearly 100% in the first three months of this year. Mr Bartlett said there were 1.18 million arrivals from January through to March — 94% more than the same period of 2022 and a record high for Jamaica’s tourism high season. He said the Tourism Ministry’s growth plan aims to have the island attract five million visitors annually by 2025. That would be a 35% increase from Jamaica’s peak of 3.7 million tourists in 2022.

Lashings new sustainable irrigation system

Later, Mr Bartlett spoke to students of Newell High School in Watchwell, St. Elizabeth, to encourage them to consider tourism as a viable career path. He noted that tourism offers an infinite stream of economic opportunities, from transportation and cuisine to small business ownership and manufacturing.

The Minister announced plans to introduce a the Hospitality and Tourism Management Programme (HTMP), which enables students to receive certification from the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) and an Associate Degree in Customer Service. The programme is a collaboration between the Ministry of Tourism's Jamaica Centre of Tourism Innovation (JCTI) and the Ministry of Education and Youth.