Master Plan
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Purpose of the Master Plan
The aims of this Master Plan are three fold:
- To provide a comprehensive planning framework for the development of one of Jamaica's leading industries;
- To elaborate a vision of the future direction, shape and composition of the industry that can serve to guide the actions of the huge number of stakeholders in the industry to a common goal and purpose;
- To detail the timing and sequencing of the major programmes, roles and responsibilities of key players, institutional arrangements and resource requirements for bringing the vision to fruition.
This Plan represents the first attempt to provide a comprehensive framework for the development of Jamaica's tourism industry. Unlike other industries, the development of which can be left mainly to market forces, tourism's development has to be planned. The industry exerts such a powerful influence on settlement patterns, infrastructure and town planning and the use of natural resources that allowing development to take place unplanned can lead to social and environmental degradation. There is strong evidence to suggest that the industry's unplanned development has caused both types of degradation to occur in Jamaica.
Jamaica is characterised by a plethora of plans, the majority of which are never implemented. Common failings of these plans are that they fail to build consensus amongst the main stakeholders, do not specify mechanisms and responsibilities for implementation, and fail to address the crucial issue of mobilisation of resources. They rely mainly on Government to find resources from existing budgets and this the hard pressed exchequer often fails to do.
This Plan has been developed using a process designed by the Ministry of Tourism and Sport (MOTS) to overcome these failings. It was developed in two main phases:
- Diagnostic & Strategy which took stock of the industry's strengths and weaknesses and outlined strategic options for the future direction of the industry in the document Diagnostic & Strategic Options;
- Master Plan, the results of which are presented in this document, the main purpose of which is to detail the actions required to implement the agreed strategy.
The two stage process was designed to facilitate consultation to build consensus on the direction the industry should take. Substantial time and effort was given over to receiving comments from all stakeholders on the document Diagnostic & Strategic Options. In addition, a draft of this Master Plan was also discussed widely with all industry stakeholders and communities. Their extensive comments have been incorporated into this final document. The result is that this document reflects the considerable consensus that has emerged through the process of its preparation. It is anticipated that this final draft of the Master Plan will be discussed at a National Symposium and made available for inspection by local communities. Consultation thus remains a theme of this Plan.
This document is concerned to elaborate a vision of the industry and the actions required to realise that vision. The Master Plan focuses on mechanisms for implementation and resource mobilisation. It is hoped in this way to overcome the common shortcomings of previous plans.
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