JAMAICA

Jamaica typically welcomes enough visitors each year to more than double its population of some 2.7 million people. Along with mining and agriculture, the Travel & Tourism Industry is an important part of the Jamaican economy, directly accounting for over 10 percent of all jobs on the island in 2007 and indirectly for some 26 percent of all jobs. Tourism generates more than 50 percent of all foreign exchange earnings of the country.

The importance of the industry is reflected in what Jamaican students are taught as part of the regular national school curriculum. Information about the Travel & Tourism industry is woven into the five core subjects every student must study: Language Art, Social Studies, Mathematics, Integrated Science, and Resources & Technology. Topics studied as part of the five core subjects range from “ Sectors of the Tourism Industry” to “Impacts of Tourism” and “Tourism Marketing.”

Since the schools already cover the basics of the travel and tourism industry, the Jamaica Programme focuses on extra-curricular activities for older students, including classroom presentations, community involvement projects, specialized seminars and limited work attachments or internships.

Projects

In general, students tend to focus on projects that involve community improvement as it relates to tourism. One team recommended improving local streets and sewage systems as part of a set of recommendations to make a small town on the less-visited south coast of the island more attractive to visitors.

Another noted that lack of confidence and motivation among residents were impediments to improving a small village that would like to see more visitors.

Jamaica Programme Director

Essie Gardner
Jamaica Tourist Board
64 Knutsford Boulevard
Kingston 5, Jamaica WI

Phone: +876-929-9200 x2045
Fax: +876-920-0456
Emails: essieg@visitjamaica.com, essieg@hotmail.com