The Sandals-Royal Caribbean deal: Ensure revenue circles at home

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I am writing with reference to the article ‘Edmund Bartlett’s calls for clarity of the US$3 billion partnership between Sandals Resorts and Royal Caribbean Group’, published on September 26.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett’s call for clarity is both timely and structurally necessary. Rather than an adversarial critique, this request should be viewed as a vital exercise in national economic safeguarding to protect Jamaica’s economic future.

For Jamaica to capitalise on this 50-50 per cent joint venture, we must look at how global economic superpowers systematically manage their own trillion-dollar industries.

In the United States, the trillion-dollar tourism infrastructure, alongside its massive multi-billion-dollar agricultural sector, relies heavily on controlled foreign labour frameworks like the H-1B and H-2A visa programmes.

The genius of the US model is the deliberate structural design ensuring the vast majority of generated revenue, wages, and corporate profits remain within and continuously circulate through the US domestic economy. They treat labour and capital as internal economic multipliers.

As Royal Caribbean acquires its 50 per cent stake in Jamaica’s premier home-grown resort brand, there is a parallel structural imperative. The US$6 billion valuation reflects a powerhouse built on Jamaican soil, sustained by Jamaican hospitality professionals, and fed by local chains. Therefore, the minister’s focus on increased local agricultural procurement, local manufacturing, and robust career development is entirely justified.

If the capital and dividends generated by this new alliance primarily leak out to foreign cruise balance sheets, our domestic economy loses its vital multiplier effect. To ensure mutual prosperity, the legal and operational frameworks of this partnership must guarantee a substantial portion of these new revenues continuously circulate inside Jamaica. We must emulate the economic containment strategies of the world’s trillion-dollar industries. Anchor the wealth where the work is done.

CARGILL KELLY