Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has announced a planned overhaul of Jamaica’s legislative framework, which will replace the 72-year-old Tourist Board Act with a new Tourism Authority Act. The overhaul, Mr Bartlett says, is to modernise the industry, strengthen local linkages, and ensure higher retention of tourism earnings.

These are ideals that almost anyone can support. This newspaper, however, looks forward to the details of the minister’s plans and how the government proposes to engage stakeholders, for just as important is what may be captured in any law is how legislative intent is translated into appropriate policies and effectively implemented.

For decades, the success of Jamaica’s tourism industry has been measured by a simple metric: “heads on beds”. More visitors, more hotel rooms occupied, more arrivals through the airports and cruise ports. While these indicators remain important, they are no longer sufficient. If tourism is to truly transform Jamaica’s economy over the next decade, the country must reimagine the sector, not simply as a hospitality industry, but as a catalyst for broad-based national development.