Conger

The Jamaica Tourist Board has announced plans to make the Caribbean island nation a religious tourism destination.

At a meeting with church leaders on Jan 28, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett unveiled a building programme that includes a 5000-seat convention centre to attract religious groups to the island.

Religious travel and tourism was one of the fastest growing segments of the holiday industry Bartlett said, and was an untapped market for the island.

Of America’s 450,000 churches, over 50,000 ran church travel programmes he said. Church youth, missionary and fellowship groups were the most frequent flyers.

“The destinations range from Israel, which has the highest incidence of tourism travel, to the Caribbean, Europe, Africa and others. Missionary work is a big area of travel in the religious fraternity, with Africa and India being the largest recipient countries,” he said.

Youth groups usually visited countries where they could participate in charitable community based projects—which would be an added benefit for the Jamaican economy, he said.

Faith-based travel and tourism sector will require larger convention centre facilities, the minister said, noting the island did not lack for infrastructure, but “we do lack space.”

The Anglican Church in Jamaica has applauded the drive to attract religious groups to the island and pledged its cooperation to the initiative. The 2009 meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council is already scheduled for Montego Bay and may be one of the first beneficiaries of Jamaica’s expanded tourist infrastructure.