OCHO RIOS, Jamaica; Monday, October 5, 2026: Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett has underscored that while embracing technology is an imperative, there is no need to fear artificial intelligence (AI) overtaking labour in the tourism industry.
The message was delivered to members of Tourism Action Clubs (TACs) from secondary and tertiary institutions attending a Tourism AI Youth Forum at the Sandals Dunns River resort recently. The forum formed part of activities to mark Tourism Awareness Week 2026, which was observed from September 27 to October 3, under the theme “Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism.”
There are some 57 TACs across the island with numerous participants indicating a desire to work in tourism. Minister Bartlett provided an overview on the successes of Jamaica’s tourism industry, technology, workforce training, resilience, digitisation and entrepreneurship.
Expounding on AI, he told the students: “Your immersion in artificial intelligence is not an opening for you to learn this new capacity over everybody else, it is to enable this new capacity to bring everybody else in line with what the value of the technology is and how it can improve their own position in life.”
The tourism minister said: “What we need to ensure is that the fear that normally envelops us and eats away our capacity to benefit from newness – that fear needs to disappear, and it is only you, the young people, who are the new drivers of that experience, who can help to remove that fear from your parents.”
Having determined that tourism is driven by people travelling to fulfil their passions, he said technology was enabling a greater understanding of these passions “and then we build products around these passion points to satisfy them.”
In outlining the job opportunities provided by the current digital transformation Minister Bartlett explained that: “You do not have to be a computer scientist to have a place in the future of tourism. Tourism will need software developers and data analysts. But it will also need writers, designers, photographers, chefs, musicians, tour guides, entrepreneurs, marketers and storytellers.”
However, he emphasised that AI will never replace true Jamaican hospitality. “AI can support creativity, but it cannot replace the qualities that make Jamaica unique — our personality, our culture, our hospitality and our ability to connect with people. Those qualities come from you,” he noted.
Minister Bartlett stressed that though AI is a powerful tool, people travel for human interaction. “Tourism is fundamentally about people. Technology should enhance the visitor experience, not remove the human connection,” he expressed.
“A visitor may use AI to find a Jamaican restaurant, but it is the interaction with the Jamaican chef that creates the memory. Technology may help someone find an attraction, but it is the tour guide who brings the experience to life. A digital platform may help someone book a Jamaican experience, but it is the people they meet who make that experience memorable,” Mr. Bartlett added.
Some 222 students and teachers from 28 schools from across the island attended the highly anticipated event. Participants were treated to a step-by-step dissertation on the forum’s theme “Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies: The Power of Curiosity” by guest presenter Jamaican Professor Howard Goode, an AI Strategy, Product and Workflow Transformation Professor at Bentley University.
He defined curiosity as creating “a spark” and piqued the student’s interest in “the opportunities that you can create when you pull together that spark, that question, and technology,” urging that, “you need to become architects of the new tourism.”
The high energy event also saw presentations by local AI experts, tech-savvy students and a surprise performance by Agent Sasco. With some 310 persons in attendance overall, participants gained insight from exhibitors from Jamaica College Robotics Club, Expedia, STEAMHouse, the University of Technology (UTECH), Nova Core and the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB).
