Government of Jamaica

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News Releases

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett (second right) leads a unifying group handshake with (from left) Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Jennifer Griffith, outgoing Chairman of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), Hon. Godfrey Dyer and incoming TEF Chairman, Ryan Parkes at the Ministry’s One-day Strategic Visioning Retreat held last Wednesday at the AC Marriott Hotel.

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Minister Bartlett Salutes Godfrey Dyer’s 14 Years of Exemplary Service KINGSTON, Jamaica; Thursday, April 30, 2026: Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, has named Ryan Parkes, Group Chief Executive Officer of Island Car Rentals and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Tourism Workers Pension Scheme (TWPS), as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), effective May 1, 2026. The appointment, recently approved by Cabinet, was announced at the Ministry’s One-day Strategic Visioning Retreat held on April 22 at the AC Marriott Hotel. In making the announcement, Minister Bartlett also paid tribute to the outgoing TEF Chairman, Hon. Godfrey Dyer, whose 14-year tenure at the helm of the TEF represents the longest record of chairmanship in the fund’s history and one of the longest across government.

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Tourism Service Excellence Awards (TSEA), Ready to Roll

Kingston, Jamaica; September 19, 2017… Plans are in high gear for the staging of The Tourism Service Excellence Awards for 2017, by the Ministry of Tourism through its agency the Tourism Product Development Company Ltd, (TPDCo). The Awards which was launched in 2008 and staged for three (3) years, after a brief hiatus, wove its way back onto the calendar of events in the tourism sector and was a stunning success for the 2016 period.

Bartlett to Promote Jamaica at World Tourism Day Celebrations in Qatar

KINGSTON, Jamaica; September 26, 2017: Hon. Edmund Bartlett departed the island yesterday (September 25, 2017) to participate in the official celebration of World Tourism Day being hosted in Doha, Qatar, on September 27, 2017.

Grenada Meeting To Map Tourism Restoration Action Plan for Caribbean

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, September 26, 2017: Key members of the newly formed United Nations World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) Disaster Recovery Working Group for the Affected States in the Caribbean will convene in Grenada on October 9 to discuss how to assist tourism dependent member states recently ravaged by natural disasters.

Global Tourism Conference to Attract 800 High-Level Tourism Decision Makers

CHENGDU, China; September 15, 2017: Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says the UNWTO, Government of Jamaica and World Bank Group Global Conference will be the most significant global conference in tourism ever to be held in the Americas.

14,000 Flights Cancelled Due to Hurricane Irma

KINGSTON, Jamaica; September 14, 2017: The shutdown of Florida airports because of Hurricane Irma resulted in the cancellation of some 14,000 flights between the Caribbean and the southern US state, according to a tracking service FlightAware.

Jamaica to Lead UNWTO Disaster Recovery Programme for the Caribbean

CHENGDU, China; September 19, 2017: Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett has been appointed as the coordinator of the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) newly formed Disaster Recovery Working Group for the Affected States in the Caribbean.