KINGSTON, Jamaica; December 4, 2016: The Ministry of Tourism is set to receive strategic assistance from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in the development of its Tourism Linkages Network. This as Director of the UNWTO Affiliate Members Programme, Ms. Yolanda Perdomo-Aparicio, will be arriving in the island on December 5 on the invitation of Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, for a five-day working visit.

Ms. Perdomo-Aparicio has experience in both the public and private sectors and is an expert in tourism destination promotion and distribution. At the UNWTO, she is in charge of the shopping, city tourism, gastronomy and knowledge networks. She will be assisting the ministry in developing its networks by providing strategic guidance.

Since assuming office nine months ago, Minister Bartlett has been laying the foundation for the growth and diversification of Jamaica’s tourism industry through five networks;  Sports and Entertainment, Gastronomy, Health and Wellness, Shopping and Knowledge. They operate under the Ministry’s overarching Tourism Linkages Network which seeks to drive the development of these sub-sectors to further diversify our tourism offerings, create business opportunities and increase the use of local goods and services within the tourism sector.

Minister Bartlett said “I am delighted that Ms. Perdomo-Aparicio was able to accept my invitation and I look forward to the invaluable support she will be giving to the Linkages Network while she is here. She is truly an expert in this area and I am convinced she will provide great insight that will aid in the development of our tourism networks.”

While here, Ms. Perdomo-Aparicio will help to raise awareness among Jamaican entrepreneurs regarding the opportunities available through the networks as well as encourage entrepreneurs to participate in the activities of the Ministry of Tourism’s Linkages Network.   

She will participate in several important engagements during her visit. On Wednesday, December 7 the programme of the five new Tourism Linkages Networks will be rolled out at a Press Launch set for the Jamaica Pegasus at 10:00a.m. Later that day, Ms. Perdomo-Aparicio will address the inaugural Tourism Policy Lecture Series which will be held under the theme ‘Network Possibilities: New Opportunities for the Tourism Sector’ at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Regional Headquarters at 6:00 p.m.

The inaugural lecture will be hosted by the UWI Department of Government, UWI Centre for Tourism and Policy Research in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and will be attended by, among others, Minister Bartlett, Chairman of the Tourism Linkages Council, Mr. Adam Stewart and UWI Principal Prof. Archibald McDonald.

Ms. Perdomo-Aparicio will attend a meeting of the Tourism Linkages Council on Thursday, December 8 and on Friday December 9 participate in a Network Stakeholders Rap Session at the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) Library at 9:30 a.m.

Jamaica Cops Several Accolades in the 23rd Annual World Travel Awards (WTA)

KINGSTON, Jamaica; December 4, 2016: Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has been bestowed the distinctive award of World’s Leading Personality for Outstanding Services to Travel, at the 23rd Annual World Travel Awards (WTA) Grand Final held in the Maldives, Southern Asia on December 2, 2016. Destination Jamaica and local tourism partners also copped several prestigious awards at the event.

“I am very pleased to receive this award. It is truly humbling to be recognized in this manner at such a major event attended by many of the world’s leading travel and tourism stalwarts,” said Minister Bartlett.

The award is the most prestigious honour in the travel industry each year and is presented to an individual who has made a monumental contribution to the travel and tourism industry. The recipient also had to make a positive, defining impact on the industry, not only over the last 12 months, but over the course of a lifetime. 

In making the decision, World Travel Awards President, Graham Cooke shared that their academy met to review suitable candidates and Minister Bartlett’s name unanimously came to the fore.“We are deeply privileged to be able to formally honour and recognize such a pioneering and inspirational man and to present to the global industry an exemplary torch bearer of undisputed industry excellence and a power of good to the world of travel,” said Mr. Cooke.

Minister Bartlett has given over thirty-five years of service to Jamaica, in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. He has represented Jamaica regionally and internationally, and currently chairs the Board of Affiliate Members of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).  He is the first to serve on the executive of both the public and private sector arms of this esteemed organization.

Jamaica emerged the “World's Leading Cruise Destination” as well as the “World's Leading Wedding Destination.”

Among the awards received by several of Jamaica’s resorts and travel partners were the World's Leading All-Inclusive Company (Sandals Resorts International), World's Leading All-Inclusive Family Resort Brand (Beaches Resorts), World's Leading Caribbean Attraction Company (Island Routes Caribbean Adventures), World's Leading Luxury Hotel Villa (Ian Fleming Villa at GoldenEye), World's Leading New Island Resort (Meliá Braco Village) and World's Leading Villa Resort (Round Hill Hotel & Villas)

Minister Bartlett lauded the destination and local tourism entities on winning several awards. “I am very pleased that destination Jamaica and our local tourism partners continue to be world beaters on the international stage. Their performance has played a significant role in fueling the growth that we are seeing in our sector,” he said.

“We continue to register growth in spite of the challenges. In October we had growth in both arrivals and earnings despite Jamaica suffering a loss of over 8,000 potential visitors due to cancellations during the passage of Hurricane Matthew. During the month of October 2016 the top performing regions were Latin America, recording growth of 26.6% over October 2015 with a total of 2,803 visitors, and Europe recording growth of 10.5%, over October 2015 with a total of 21,870 visitors,” the Minister emphasized.

This is Minister Bartlett’s second World Travel Award in recent times, as he was previously named the “Caribbean’s Leading Personality for Outstanding Services to Tourism” in September of this year.

Minister Bartlett was accompanied by Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang who accepted the award for World's Leading Cruise Destination on behalf of the Port Authority of Jamaica.

FALMOUTH, Trelawny; November 23, 2016: Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has embraced a suggestion from Captain Johnny Faevelen, Master of the world’s largest cruise ship, Harmony of the Seas, to strategically engage crew members on cruise ships to aid in promoting the destination to attract more passengers to the island.

The cruise ship with a maximum capacity for some 6,780 guests and 2300 crew members, was launched just five months ago by Royal Caribbean and made its inaugural visit to Falmouth on Tuesday November 22, 2016. At a welcome reception onboard, Captain Faevelen strongly suggested that while focus must be placed on passengers the crew “are the people you must take best care of.”

He pointed out that it was the crew members who helped to promote the various destinations to passengers, which informed their decision to get off the ships to see for themselves. He said they are the persons telling the guests about the different locations and being treated well by the people on land at the different ports augured well for how they promoted the island.

“The crew members are the most loyal customers you have,” he noted, reaffirming that “the most loyal people are the ones who come back not every other week on board the ship, not two months, not four months but eight months of the year and we love Jamaica. We love the friendliness, the happiness, the ‘no problem man’ attitude; we love Jamaica,” declared Captain Faevelen.

Underscoring the point, Minister Bartlett said “the Captain gave us a very interesting addition to the core of key first instance contact which we knew was there before but really it has not been brought to our consciousness in the way that the Captain did today, that the crew are indeed your first point of contact for the visitor coming into your destination.”

He endorsed the fact that “a lot of these visitors, while they are on board the ship, get their feeling about the destination, get their desire for the destination, get their allurement to the destination from the expressions and statements of the crew and the manner in which the destination is presented by them.”

The Tourism Minister added that “we take the guidance that he has given us and we will seek to engage the crew members in a more strategic way. I want to implore Jamaicans that wherever you see a crew member, take the best care of them because that’s truly your first point of contact to your destination.”

Minister Bartlett emphasised that cruise was a very essential part of the tourism offering that Destination Jamaica provided and the partnership with Royal Caribbean was very significant, resulting in the establishment of Falmouth as the largest port in the Caribbean. This development he said had made cruise tourism “rise to new heights” with 1.2 million arrivals last year in Falmouth alone while Montego Bay and Ocho Rios shared 500,000.

“This year, so far, we’re right on target; we’re actually 9 percent above last year and earnings have also grown. The period January to September 2016 saw a 9.6% increase in cruise passenger arrivals, with 1,223,608 recorded passengers, when compared to the same period last year,” he explained.

“We recorded cruise passenger earnings of approximately US$111 million, up from some US$98.3 million for the same period last year,” disclosed Mr. Bartlett.

Two other Royal Caribbean cruise ships, namely Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas are already berthing in Falmouth and Captain Faevelen said a fourth ship, not yet named, was under construction and expected to also come here after it has been commissioned.

In welcoming Harmony of the Seas, he noted that it was joining its sister ships and Jamaica was happy to be the destination in the Caribbean to have the pleasure of welcoming the three largest cruise ships in the world. “So we’re excited about the continued partnership and the relationship with Royal Caribbean and to see continued growth. To have all three major ships coming here is very significant and will enhance the growth of the industry in Jamaica and by extension the Caribbean,” he said.

Mr. Bartlett gave an assurance that “we are committed to building out the experiences that the cruise visitors require,” adding, “we are dedicated to ensuring a safe, seamless and secure destination.” Consequently, “we have been investing along that line; our partners the Port Authority of Jamaica and the UDC (Urban Development Corporation) they have been collaborating to build out creative experiences that will enable not only the over 8000, including crew, that come on the Harmony of the Seas to have fun along the port but to be able to radiate throughout the town of Falmouth and to benefit from the culture of the people.”

APPLETON, St. Elizabeth; Jamaica, November 20, 2016: Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has welcomed as timely, a US$7.2 million investment that will make the long established Appleton Estate Rum Tour the gateway for tourism on the Jamaica’s South Coast. Minister Bartlett headed a list of dignitaries who broke ground recently for the Appleton Estate Visitor Centre which on completion, will be a showpiece surrounded by vast fields of sugar cane and home of Appleton, one of the world’s top rum brands.

The Tourism Minister was particularly pleased that the project was being undertaken in an area of Jamaica where investment of that magnitude has not been a common feature and he saw it as “the beginning of a new chapter in employment opportunities for a large number of people in the Siloah, Appleton and Maggoty area and to build out with you a seminal and aspirational experience that will bring millions of people to these parts over the coming years.”

Appleton Estate is owned by J. Wray & Nephew (JWN), a subsidiary of Gruppo Campari and the investment project was outlined by JWN’s Chairman, Clement “Jimmy” Lawrence, who noted that it will provide “a unique visitor experience.” It will involve upgrading of the existing facility and its expansion by another 25,000 square feet by October 2017.

The main building will be the welcome centre with a theatre, luxurious bar, five-star restaurant and other amenities preceding the historical tour of the estate’s distillery and its ageing warehouses. It is highly anticipated that the rail service which ground to a halt many years ago, will be rolling again around 2017 or shortly thereafter and form an integral part of the plan to more than double the 50,000 visitors who currently take the Appleton Rum Tour.

Minister Bartlett lauded JWN for “going beyond manufacturing to expanding the range of offerings that Jamaica provides as a destination and helping to make us a much desired place that people want to visit.” He was also pleased that elements of the exciting expansion plan, namely food and music, were two of the passion points that will attract visitors. “So you have a complete offering here that will excite everyone who wants to come to Jamaica and within that frame will encapsulate all that a visitor needs when he gets into a destination,” said Mr. Bartlett.

With the inclusion of a state of the art restaurant under the project, Minister Bartlett said “we see this as a bold statement that Jamaica is about to make to the world as a centre of gastronomy.” Also, work is progressing by the Ministry’s newly formed Gastronomy Network to, among other things, create a gastronomy mapping platform with easily accessible information on the best food offerings island-wide; foster the development of food tours across the country, including elements of food preparation and building out festivals as a product for gastronomy tourism. The Appleton Rum Tour will be the centrepiece of that gastronomy arrangement for the South Coast.

He implored Appleton to aim for a level of increase in visitors to the attraction way beyond its own projection, “because we are growing the industry at a rate that will enable you to do that. Cruise is going to grow exponentially and you must prepare yourself for the post 2017 arrival of the Appleton Train again. And you must prepare yourself for the expansion of the highway within these areas that is going to create connectivity in this Appleton area through Accompong and back into Montego Bay.”