标签： Jamaica

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica’s primary tourism industry advocacy group is escalating its calls for the government to open talks over a planned General Consumption Tax (GCT) increase for tourism-related activities, warning that the unconsulted policy shift threatens to destabilize one of the nation’s most critical economic drivers.

In an official statement released Wednesday, the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) revealed that its leadership has been requesting formal discussions with government officials since March, with no response to date. Association President Christopher Jarrett emphasized that the proposed tax adjustment carries far-reaching consequences for tourism businesses, their workers, local investors, and regional communities across Jamaica, making stakeholder input non-negotiable.

Jarrett clarified that the industry does not oppose the government’s core priorities, including post-Hurricane Melissa national recovery efforts and responsible fiscal management. However, he stressed that a policy of this magnitude that directly impacts the tourism sector cannot be finalized without meaningful consultation.

“As a longstanding committed partner to Jamaica’s national growth and development, we are deeply disappointed that repeated requests for dialogue since March have gone unanswered,” Jarrett stated in the release. “This proposal will reshape the trajectory of our sector, and we deserve the opportunity to lay out our concerns before any final decision is made.”

The JHTA president emphasized that the association is seeking collaborative problem-solving, not conflict. “We are only asking to have our voices heard. Decisions this impactful require genuine engagement with the industry that will live with their outcomes. Tourism must have a place at the policy table, and open dialogue should be a foundational step in this process,” he added.

A key point of contention for the sector is the large number of long-term binding contracts that many hotels, tourist attractions, and tour operators hold through 2027 and beyond. These pre-negotiated agreements leave businesses with little flexibility to absorb new tax costs or pass them on to customers without eroding profit margins and undermining the global competitiveness of Jamaica’s tourism product, the JHTA argues.

“Most tourism operators locked in pricing and contractual commitments years in advance to secure bookings and investment. A sudden, unplanned change to the tax regime creates avoidable operational and financial strain that demands careful review and collaborative discussion,” Jarrett explained.

He also reminded policymakers of tourism’s outsize role in Jamaica’s economy: the sector is one of the nation’s largest employers, a top generator of foreign exchange, and a key support system for thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises operating across the island.

“We do not disagree with the government’s goal of maintaining a stable, strong fiscal position,” Jarrett noted. “But reaching that goal must include input from one of the country’s most economically vital sectors. We are confident that there is enough goodwill and shared expertise on both sides to craft a balanced solution that works for all.”

The JHTA is calling for immediate talks, warning that ongoing uncertainty around the tax proposal is already complicating critical decisions for businesses around investment, daily operations, and staffing. “Every additional day without dialogue adds more uncertainty for companies making choices that shape Jamaica’s economic future. Our sector is ready to engage constructively and find common ground, but the time for meaningful talks is right now,” Jarrett said.

Despite the lack of response to date, the association remains optimistic that direct engagement between the Jamaican government and tourism industry stakeholders can deliver an outcome that both upholds the government’s fiscal goals and preserves the long-term competitiveness of Jamaica’s key tourism sector.

MARINA DEL REY, Calif. — On June 4, at an awards ceremony hosted at The Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey, the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) added another milestone to its legacy in global tourism, taking home the award for Best Travel Advisor Support at the annual TravelAge West WAVE Awards. This win marks the 14th time Jamaica has claimed this top honor across the 21-year history of the prestigious industry awards, an unmatched streak that JTB officials say underscores the destination’s longstanding, trust-centered partnership with travel professionals across the United States.

Unlike many industry awards judged by panels or editorial teams, the WAVE Awards draw their results directly from votes cast by practicing travel advisors across the U.S., as well as the readership of TravelAge West, a leading trade publication for North American travel professionals. Honoring the highest-performing destinations, suppliers and service providers across more than 70 categories, the awards center the perspectives of the practitioners who connect travelers with destinations every day.

For JTB, winning the Best Travel Advisor Support award holds unique meaning, because the recognition comes from the very agents who recommend Jamaican getaways to their clients on a daily basis. The honor directly reflects the strength of the island’s ongoing investment in training, fast, responsive client service, and robust on-the-ground support for travel trade partners, JTB representatives noted.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett expressed deep gratitude for the repeated vote of confidence from the U.S. travel advisor community. “For the 14th time, the travel advisors of the United States have placed their trust in Jamaica, and we receive that vote of confidence with deep gratitude,” Bartlett said. “Behind every booking is an advisor who has chosen to put our island forward to their clients. This award belongs as much to them as it does to us. It signals to the world that when travellers seek an unforgettable Caribbean experience, the professionals they rely on think of Jamaica first.”

Donovan White, JTB’s Director of Tourism, echoed that sentiment, emphasizing that recognition from the advisor community carries more weight than almost any other industry honor. “This category is decided by the people who know our product best, so the recognition is one we value above almost any other,” White explained. “It reflects the work our sales and marketing teams do every day: the training, the prompt service, and the genuine partnership, to ensure advisors have everything they need to sell destination Jamaica with confidence. As we continue to expand our airlift and deepen our presence across the US market, that close relationship with the trade remains central to our strategy.”

After more than 10 years of strategic acquisitions, regulatory navigation, and targeted tech investment, Jamaica’s Cornerstone Financial Holdings has secured formal regulatory approval from the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) to launch its long-planned digital-first banking platform via subsidiary Barita Merchant Bank. The milestone moves the company beyond years of behind-the-scenes buildout and into what many industry observers describe as its toughest test yet: capturing market share in Jamaica’s already crowded and competitive digital finance landscape.

The first customer-facing products set to roll out are a standalone digital wallet paired with a co-branded Visa card, though Cornerstone has yet to announce an official launch date, outline customer acquisition goals, share transaction volume targets, or publish adoption benchmarks. This lack of public metrics leaves industry stakeholders uncertain how quickly the firm expects the new platform to gain traction among Jamaican consumers.

Cornerstone’s journey to this point has followed a deliberate, decade-long expansion strategy that prioritized building infrastructure before launching customer-facing services. The group first acquired a core banking license, transformed Barita Investments into Jamaica’s largest securities dealer by shareholder equity, expanded into investment banking and wealth management, acquired JN Fund Managers (later rebranded as Barita Fund Managers), and secured formal approval to operate as a full financial holding company. For most of this period, the firm was publicly identified primarily as a securities and investment banking player, but according to founder and Group CEO Paul Simpson, that public identity never aligned with the company’s core founding vision.

“From the outset, we were a technology company that owned a bank; and not the other way around,” Simpson explained in emailed comments to local media following BOJ’s issuance of its non-objection to the product rollout.

Simpon emphasized that the string of acquisitions the group completed over the past decade were never intended to be standalone end goals. Instead, each step laid foundational infrastructure for a much broader ambition: building a fully integrated, digitally native financial services ecosystem that expands access to underserved consumers. “The vision was never limited to owning or operating a traditional banking institution. We viewed the banking platform as a foundational component of a much broader strategy aimed at building a digitally-enabled integrated financial services ecosystem,” he said.

To deliver on that tech-first vision, Cornerstone has recruited a leadership team with deep global fintech experience. The group’s roster includes Stefano D’Ambrosio and Walter D’Ambrosio, both credited with helping develop Latin America’s first mobile banking platform, as well as Ashish Mehta, a veteran tech executive who held senior leadership roles at global giants Amazon and Adobe. These hires complement the firm’s existing deep expertise in banking and investment management with specialized digital product and engineering capabilities.

The road to regulatory approval was far from smooth. Simpson shared that the firm first applied to BOJ to acquire its core banking platform back in early 2014, as part of a broader plan to use technology to advance financial inclusion across Jamaica. At the time, the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC, now the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation) had already approved funding for the initiative. However, the regulatory approval process stretched on far longer than the company initially projected, and the OPIC funding commitment expired in July 2016, before the acquisition could be finalized. Cornerstone ultimately completed its purchase of the bank in December 2016, after securing alternative financing to replace the lapsed OPIC commitment. “It is a good thing we did, because that decision ultimately saved the transaction,” Simpson told the Business Observer. “The approved OPIC funding, though fully committed, was never drawn down, but the vision was never abandoned.”

Now, after years of setbacks and incremental progress, the digital banking platform is ready to enter the market. The offering is built around a branchless model that will eventually roll out a full suite of financial services, including savings accounts, consumer and business loans, person-to-person payments, cross-border remittances, investment products, and wealth management tools. The digital wallet is designed as an accessible entry point that lets customers start with basic transactions, then gradually move into more complex banking and investment relationships without ever needing to visit a physical branch.

Despite the regulatory green light, the company faces a steep challenge in breaking into Jamaica’s financial services market. Established commercial banks, credit unions, and existing fintech players have already invested heavily in expanding digital channels, mobile payment solutions, and app-based banking services over the past decade. Cornerstone’s core bet is that significant gaps in the market remain: many Jamaicans are still excluded from the formal financial system, and even those with existing accounts often face high frictions and high fees when accessing basic services. The platform is designed to appeal to two broad groups: existing Barita investment clients looking for integrated digital banking, and underserved consumers who have been overlooked by traditional institutions, including members of the large Jamaican diaspora living overseas.

Longer term, Simpson’s ambition extends far beyond Jamaica’s borders. The company is already laying groundwork to expand across the wider Caribbean and Latin America, regions that face many of the same structural challenges around financial inclusion, payment efficiency, and cross-border economic connectivity. Cornerstone has already established operational hubs in Barbados and is actively expanding its footprint across other regional markets as it works to build out its cross-border ecosystem.

For now, however, one key detail remains undisclosed: the company has declined to share specific public benchmarks for success, even when asked about 3 to 5 year targets for customer growth, transaction volume, asset accumulation, and user adoption. That means the platform is entering the market with all the required regulatory approvals, licenses, and infrastructure in place, but with no public metrics that customers, investors, or regulators can use to evaluate its early performance.