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<span style="font-weight: bold">News Source: OTGNR - </span>
<span style="font-weight: bold"> Confirmed : Tourist Duty - Free Sh... ( Gleaner )...</span>
Jamaica's prospects of attracting luxury boutique brands went up several notches yesterday with the coming into effect of the Tourist (Duty-Free) Shopping System Act.Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett made the announcement at the start of the winter tourist season yesterday morning at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, St James."This amended bill allows incoming travellers - air and sea - access to purchase duty-free items before reaching Customs," boasted Bartlett, as he addressed immi-gration and custom officers, duty-free merchants, red-cap porters and Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Associa-tion representatives.It took seven years for the legislation to be prepared and involved wide consultations among the finance ministry, the Customs Department and the duty-free industry. A terrible blowDuring that time, government officials paid visits to Panama, Trinidad and Tobago and other states to examine their systems, after Jamaica lost its edge in the Caribbean because the environment here became unfavourable to high-end business operators."Business dropped dramatically as a result of the high-duty regime. Duty-free shopping moved to Grand Cayman, Cozumel, St Thomas, St Maarten and Aruba," said Kumar Samtani, president of the Duty-Free Association.This latest move by the Government opens the doors for high-end designers such as Prada, Ferragamo and Louis Vitton, as well as polished and unpolished gem manufacturers to host trunk shows in Jamaica."Today, much of the modern wholesale and retail technology is centred around trunk shows, where a substantial amount of merchandise is brought in on a temporary basis. Those items not sold can be easily re-exported, while those sold, the applicable duties will be paid," stated Bartlett. New entrepreneursExcited by the prospects, Samtani said the move would also bring new and diversified entrepreneurs into the duty-free industry.He added: "The system has been simplified, in keeping with the best practices in the Caribbean, making us more competitive in the region."He noted that cruise ship passengers would find shopping in Destination Jamaica far more attractive.Samtani noted that currently there are no duty-free shops in the airport for incoming passengers, but "once the airport identifies the retail space, a lot of international and domestic operators would be interested in participating".For Bartlett, it is a new dawn for the tourist industry. He admitted that over the last couple of decades the island had missed the boat when compared to its destination rivals.He said that this bill, when fully developed in one year, can earn more than the country has earned from bauxite in any given year."The margin on these sales will allow for more foreign exchange while enhancing customs revenue," he concluded.Bartlett's optimism comes at a time when the tourist industry reportedly registered economic activity, bringing in close to US$2 billion in revenue this past year, while growing its arrivals at an average of 3.6 per cent.
<span style="font-weight: bold"> Confirmed : Tourist Duty - Free Sh... ( Gleaner )...</span>
Jamaica's prospects of attracting luxury boutique brands went up several notches yesterday with the coming into effect of the Tourist (Duty-Free) Shopping System Act.Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett made the announcement at the start of the winter tourist season yesterday morning at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, St James."This amended bill allows incoming travellers - air and sea - access to purchase duty-free items before reaching Customs," boasted Bartlett, as he addressed immi-gration and custom officers, duty-free merchants, red-cap porters and Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Associa-tion representatives.It took seven years for the legislation to be prepared and involved wide consultations among the finance ministry, the Customs Department and the duty-free industry. A terrible blowDuring that time, government officials paid visits to Panama, Trinidad and Tobago and other states to examine their systems, after Jamaica lost its edge in the Caribbean because the environment here became unfavourable to high-end business operators."Business dropped dramatically as a result of the high-duty regime. Duty-free shopping moved to Grand Cayman, Cozumel, St Thomas, St Maarten and Aruba," said Kumar Samtani, president of the Duty-Free Association.This latest move by the Government opens the doors for high-end designers such as Prada, Ferragamo and Louis Vitton, as well as polished and unpolished gem manufacturers to host trunk shows in Jamaica."Today, much of the modern wholesale and retail technology is centred around trunk shows, where a substantial amount of merchandise is brought in on a temporary basis. Those items not sold can be easily re-exported, while those sold, the applicable duties will be paid," stated Bartlett. New entrepreneursExcited by the prospects, Samtani said the move would also bring new and diversified entrepreneurs into the duty-free industry.He added: "The system has been simplified, in keeping with the best practices in the Caribbean, making us more competitive in the region."He noted that cruise ship passengers would find shopping in Destination Jamaica far more attractive.Samtani noted that currently there are no duty-free shops in the airport for incoming passengers, but "once the airport identifies the retail space, a lot of international and domestic operators would be interested in participating".For Bartlett, it is a new dawn for the tourist industry. He admitted that over the last couple of decades the island had missed the boat when compared to its destination rivals.He said that this bill, when fully developed in one year, can earn more than the country has earned from bauxite in any given year."The margin on these sales will allow for more foreign exchange while enhancing customs revenue," he concluded.Bartlett's optimism comes at a time when the tourist industry reportedly registered economic activity, bringing in close to US$2 billion in revenue this past year, while growing its arrivals at an average of 3.6 per cent.