(Jamaica Gleaner) The addition of 15 automated immigration kiosks at the Sangster International Airport (SIA) in Montego Bay, St James will take Jamaica closer to becoming a smart destination, says Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett.
The addition of the kiosks in time for the start of the winter tourist season will facilitate a more seamless experience for the volumes of visitors arriving, Bartlett said as he commissioned the new kiosks into operation on Saturday.
Jamaica is expected to welcome some 2.68 million stopover arrivals by year end. This is an eight per cent increase over last year.
Smart tourism refers to the application of information and communication technology, such similar to the smart cities, for developing innovative tools and approaches to improve tourism.
Speaking at the official ribbon cutting of the new kiosks at the airport, Bartlett said: “The future of tourism is predicated on technology and this move today which is a continuation of the development of a smarter tourism experience and particularly, smarter airport arrangements to facilitate seamlessness in visitor entry experience in our destination.”
With these new kiosks passengers place their immigration cards inside the machine and once the machine gives them a green light they are allowed to go straight to customs and clear their luggage.
“This use of technology to create a smarter entry into the destination is also going to position Jamaica as the leading destination in the Caribbean in so far as smart tourism is concerned. We are looking forward to not only this automated immigration facility but also the E-gates that are coming, the elimination of paper base and more digital arrangements for immigration.
The final stage will be facial recognition which will make Jamaica the most technologically savvy destination as it relates to point of entry,” added the tourism minister.
