Jamaica´s Prime Minister Urges Hoteliers to Conduct More Research to Boost Earnings

Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson urged leaders in the hospitality and tourism sector to undertake more marketing research in the industry in an effort to boost earnings in that multibillion dollar sector.

"There is a clear need for more research which is of relevant and practical benefit to the hospitality and tourism industry," Mr. Patterson said.

He argued that with the projected continued growth of Jamaica´s tourism industry over the next five to ten years, tourism policy planning and implementation must be informed by factual, credible analysis based on information collected by sound research technology.

"Such an approach is hardly optional in our respective capacities as policy makers, educators, aspiring and established industry practitioners, as we are impelled to meet the global economic, social, cultural and environmental imperatives of the 21st century tourism," Mr. Patterson said at the opening ceremony of the inaugural hospitality and tourism conference staged by the University of Technology in collaboration with the University of Delaware at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Montego Bay.