ST JAMES, Jamaica — Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says Jamaica’s decades-old Tourist Board Act will be repealed and replaced with a new Tourism Authority Act. The change is part of the Government’s push toward “Tourism 3.0” and the country’s post-Hurricane Melissa rebuilding efforts.

Bartlett said the existing legislative framework no longer sufficiently manifests the realities of a modern tourism industry that has since evolved into a ministry-driven sector with multiple agencies and broader national responsibilities.

“Structurally, we began 72 years ago when the legal framework was established around the establishment of the Jamaican Tourist Board,” the minister explained.| He was delivering the main address during the Tourism Enhancement Fund’s Speed Networking Event 2026 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre on Thursday.