Minister to Advance Regional Logistics Hub, Tourism Resilience Fund and Future-Ready Tourism Agenda
KINGSTON, Jamaica; Monday, October 5, 2026: Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, departed the island yesterday for Georgetown, Guyana, where he will join Caribbean tourism leaders, policymakers and industry stakeholders for the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s (CTO) State of the Tourism Industry Conference (SOTIC) 2026, being held from October 5 to 9.
Minister Bartlett is expected to use the regional gathering to advance Jamaica’s push for a more resilient, integrated and economically inclusive Caribbean tourism sector, with particular focus on strengthening the region’s supply side and retaining a greater share of tourism earnings within the Caribbean.
As Chair of the CTO’s high-level committee on the regional tourism supply strategy, Minister Bartlett will present an update to the Council of Ministers on Tuesday, October 6, on the Committee’s work and progress towards improving the regional tourism supply chain. He will also make a presentation on the proposed Tourism Resilience Fund, outlining its strategic importance and potential contribution to strengthening the resilience of Caribbean tourism.
A central element of Bartlett’s regional agenda is his ambition to establish a Caribbean supply logistics hub that would help the region better coordinate the sourcing and distribution of goods and services required by the tourism industry.
“We must build the capacity to produce, source, move and retain more of the value of tourism within our own region. The vision for a regional supply logistics hub is about future-proofing Caribbean tourism. It is about reducing our exposure to external shocks, strengthening our local productive capacity and ensuring that when tourism grows, a larger share of that growth remains with Caribbean businesses, workers and communities,” he stressed.
Minister Bartlett will also serve as the featured speaker for the SOTIC session, “Future-Ready Caribbean Tourism: Technology, Talent and Sustainable Transformation,” on Wednesday, October 7.
The session will examine the priorities required to ensure the region’s tourism sector remains competitive and resilient in the face of technological, environmental and economic change.
On Thursday, October 8, the tourism minister is slated to meet with CARICOM Deputy Secretary-General, Dr. Armstrong Alexis, as part of continued efforts to strengthen regional cooperation as well as participate in a CTO TV interview and additional bilateral engagements.
He will also participate in the Minister’s Dinner on Wednesday evening, alongside Caribbean counterparts and tourism stakeholders.
Bartlett said Jamaica’s participation at SOTIC provides an important opportunity not only to advance the country’s interests, but also to strengthen regional solutions to the challenges facing tourism-dependent economies.
“Caribbean tourism is interconnected. The shocks that affect one destination can quickly affect another, whether through climate events, supply disruptions, airlift, labour or global economic uncertainty. Our response therefore has to be regional. We have to think beyond individual destinations and build systems that protect the Caribbean tourism economy as a whole,” he added.
Minister Bartlett is scheduled to return to Jamaica on Friday, October 9.
