The Master Plan for Sustainable Tourism Development in Jamaica is a project of the
Ministry of Tourism and Sport. Technical assistance was provided by the Commonwealth
Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC), Commonwealth Secretariat, for the preparation
of major components of the Plan. Additional funding support was provided by the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) to prepare a Cultural/Heritage Tourism Development Study, which formed an integral component of the Master Plan. The final document constitutes the outcome
of extensive research and analysis, expert interviews and several rounds of nationwide consultations with tourism
industry stakeholders, community groups and various government departments and agencies.

Let me first express gratitude to the Government and people of Jamaica for their commitment to the
continued development of tourism and for its positioning as a lead growth sector. Acknowledgement is due
to Francis Tulloch, the former Minister of Tourism, for recognising the need and for taking the initiative to start
the process of developing a comprehensive master plan.

I take this opportunity to express gratitude to the Commonwealth Secretariat for their substantial support over
the extended period of the planning process; to Marlon Lezama; to Sunil Sinha, lead consultant of Emerging
Market Economics, for his dedication and professionalism; to Desmond Hayle & Associates – Commonwealth
Secretariat’s local consultants; to other local consultants – Pauline McHardy, Joy Douglas, Ann Hodges, Robert
Kerr, Jean Wilson & Associates and CALL Associates; to Malcolm George of Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick & Co. Ltd.
and to the Inter-American Development Bank for providing vital support when needed.

The planning process was co-ordinated by the Ministry of Tourism and Sport under the guidance of two
committees:
(1) The Master Plan Steering Committee – comprised of representatives from various government
departments, statutory bodies and tourism industry associations.
(2) The Tourism Industry Advisory Council – comprised primarily of private sector representatives from
various tourism sub-sectors as well as government representatives.

I thank the members of both the Steering Committee and the Industry Advisory Council, for their wealth of
knowledge, for providing significant and substantive input to the discussions, valuable comments on output
at each stage of the planning process and for agreeing the broad recommendations emanating from the Plan.

To the many community representatives who participated in the consultation sessions, I thank you for the level
of interest displayed, for your knowledge of tourism potentials in the various communities and for your vision
for the future growth and development of the tourism sector. I thank the many facilitators for allowing
genuine participation to all attendees at the community/stakeholder consultations.

Finally, I thank the staff of this Ministry for their dedication to the process and their continued commitment
to the sustainable development of the tourism industry.
I anticipate the continued support of all stakeholders as we move into the implementation phase of the
Master Plan.

Portia Simpson Miller, MP
Minister of Tourism and Sport
12 September, 2002