Jamaica's Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett is leading a Caribbean Tourism Logistics Hub initiative to keep more tourism earnings in the region.

This shift aims to reduce economic leakage by ensuring that a larger share of the financial benefits generated by the tourism industry remains within Caribbean borders. By managing the supply side of the industry, regional governments hope to build greater economic resilience against external threats.

Bartlett was appointed to chair the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) Supply-Side Committee during a meeting on Tuesday, May 14, held at Sandals Antigua in Antigua [1]. The committee is tasked with creating a regional strategy to manage how tourism goods and services are sourced.

"The committee will develop a regional strategy to manage tourism's supply side and retain earnings for our people," Bartlett said [2].

The initiative focuses on creating a logistics hub that streamlines the movement of goods and services. This structure is intended to decrease the region's reliance on imports and empower local producers to supply the hospitality sector.

"We are committed to establishing a logistics hub that will keep more tourism revenue in the Caribbean," Bartlett said [3].

Bartlett has also promoted these resilience goals on an international stage, including at the fourth [4] Global Tourism Resilience Day Conference in Nairobi, Kenya [5]. His efforts emphasize the need for a coordinated regional approach to protect the economic stability of tourism-dependent nations.

"It is truly humbling that the CTO recognizes our efforts," Bartlett said [6].

“"We are committed to establishing a logistics hub that will keep more tourism revenue in the Caribbean,"”

The establishment of a Supply-Side Committee and a logistics hub represents a strategic shift from focusing solely on attracting visitors to optimizing the internal economic pipeline. By reducing the amount of revenue that leaves the region to pay for imported goods, Caribbean nations seek to transform tourism from a volatile service export into a sustainable engine for local industrial growth.