Government of Jamaica

News Releases

News Releases

PS in the Ministry of Tourism, Jennifer Griffith (2nd right) engages in a lively discussion with Bishop Everton Lawrence of Faith Temple Assemblies of God (left), Junior Minister of Tourism and Montego Bay High School student, ThaeJadore Kerr (2nd left) and member of the Board of Directors for Jamaica Vacations (JAMVAC), Tricia-Ann Bicarie, following yesterday’s (September 27) Thanksgiving Church Service to mark World Tourism Day and kickstart Tourism Awareness Week 2026, which runs from Sept 27 – Oct 3.

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AI and Other Digital Technology Being Used to Transform Tourism Sector - Bartlett

Thanksgiving Church Service Kickstarts Tourism Awareness Week 2026 MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica; Monday, September 28, 2026: Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, has stressed that artificial intelligence and other digital technology are being used to strategically transform Jamaica’s tourism sector. This as the Ministry of Tourism, its public bodies and industry stakeholders, joined global partners in marking the annual UN-Tourism backed World Tourism Day (WTD), with a thanksgiving church service yesterday (September 27). The service also officially kick-started Tourism Awareness Week (TAW) 2026, being observed from September 27 to October 3, under the theme “Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism,” in keeping with the theme selected by UN Tourism for WTD. In a message read by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Jennifer Griffith, Minister Bartlett said the ministry was “actively leveraging AI and digital technology to modernise the sector through key initiatives such as real-time concierges, deploying multilingual digital concierges, and structured content to optimise visitor bookings, as well as predictive analytics.”
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TEF Enhances JCF Crime-Fighting Efforts with Donation of 15 Vehicles

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First Staging of ‘Arts in the Park’ a Major Success

The first staging of ‘ Arts in the Park,’ an initiative of the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment as part of its effort to develop the entertainment sector, is being heralded as a major success. The inaugural event was held at Hope Botanical Gardens in Kingston on February 24, 2013, and provided a total cultural immersion into the visual and performing arts for both locals and visitors alike. This, with a reggae show billed in its entirety with new and emerging talent, coupled with a village for local artists to showcase their paintings, craft items and other forms of art.
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Tourism Linkages Hub to be Established within Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment

Kingston, Jamaica: December 12, 2012 – Minister of Tourism and Entertainment, the Hon. Dr. Wykeham McNeill has announced that a Hub is to be formed within his Ministry to drive the process of establishing linkages between the tourism and other industries forward. Explaining further he said, “this Hub would be what would gather data and disseminate information, and would work with input and representation from the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), Jamaica Manufacturers Association (JMA) and JAMPRO”.
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Tourism and Entertainment Ministry Observes Tourism Awareness Week, Dec. 9-15

Kingston, Jamaica: December 7, 2012 – As Jamaica gears up for the start of the upcoming winter tourist season on December 15, the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment and its agencies will be seeking to highlight the contribution of the sector and the role it plays in the economic development of the country, during Tourism Awareness Week (TAW), which will be observed from December 9 – 15.
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TEF Finances $248 million Lighting Project for MoBay’s Elegant Corridor

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica: Friday, July 20, 2014: Montego Bay’s Elegant Corridor is slated to be brightly lit at nights before the middle of next year, following the signing of a contract for a $248 million lighting project financed by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF).
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DNA Connects CNN Anchor to Cambridge, Jamaica

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, July 23, 2014: A DNA test for her job as CNN anchor has led Michaela Pereira of Canada to Cambridge in St. James, Jamaica to unearth her genealogical roots. “I was adopted as an infant in Canada and I always knew that one part of my heritage came from Jamaica,” she related. But she was unsure of how the connection came about. “I didn’t know if one of my parents was Canadian-Jamaica or Jamaican-Jamaica,” she said.
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