Audacious goals for Jamaica’s tourism

Dear Editor,

With the increasing international popularity of Jamaica – particularly through sports and culture – I believe the time is now most opportune for this popularity to be leveraged in a strong effort made for us to host as early as possible, the Miss World or Miss Universe competition, and in collaboration with the rest of the Caribbean, the Olympics or World Games.

These are efforts on which both the private and public sectors should collaborate. The potential benefits for both groups are tremendous. Our hospitality industry, local and international travel, the financial sector, agriculture, entertainment – to name a few – would benefit greatly.

We already have facilities such as the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium, National Stadium, Sabina Park, Montego Bay Convention Centre, and several other underutilised facilities that, with some tweaking, could go a long way in facilitating any one or both of these events.

I believe our tourism minister, Edmund Bartlett, along with our sports and culture minister, Olivia “Babsy” Grange should take the lead in this effort and bring the other stakeholders on board – locally and internationally.

We will never know what can happen unless we try.

Winston Foster

Ulster Spring

Trelawny

irieproducers@hotmail.com