KINGSTON, Jamaica; March 14, 2022: Just days after Jamaica marked the second anniversary of the confirmation of its first case of the COVID-19 virus, Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett has revealed that the island’s tourist arrivals are returning to 2019 levels.

“The tourism sector is fully back on track with another record weekend of stopover arrivals, with close to 35,000 visitors coming through the Sangster and Norman Manley international airports combined, between Thursday, March 10 and Sunday March 13,” Minister Bartlett explained.

This number tops the combined 30,000 arrivals the previous weekend, with Sangster International accounting for 27,000 visitors.

Jamaica continues to be the destination of choice in the Caribbean and based on projections, Minister Bartlett says “we expect that this March will be the strongest in terms of arrivals since the pandemic disrupted worldwide tourism in 2020 and we expect in excess of 200,000 coming to Jamaica for the month.”

He noted that the tourism sector should begin to rebound at an even faster rate as the Jamaican economy continues to open up with the continued relaxation of COVID-19 measures, whilst at the same time maintaining basic health and safety protocols.

Following a brief tour of the Sangster International Airport on Sunday, March 13 to observe passenger flow, Minister Bartlett added: “We are going to have to look at accelerating the expansion, particularly at the arrival end to ensure there are more immigration stations and also that the distribution systems allow for a more seamless passage through the terminal by our visitors.”

Mr. Bartlett says he used Sunday’s visit to have a close look at the infrastructure and landscaping in terms of preparations being made to enable the environment to reflect the warmth and hospitality that is typical of Destination Jamaica.

Meanwhile, the island’s arrival figures are set to surge even further due to added airlift, as American Airlines is to add another route to Jamaica when it inaugurates weekly flights from Austin, Texas to Montego Bay on June 4, flying a 76-seat aircraft on Saturdays.

Regarding the cruise sub-sector, Mr. Bartlett welcomed the return of the Marella Explorer 2 home porting in Montego Bay as of today (Monday, March 14).

He noted that he will be meeting with the cruise officials to ensure that the cycle continues. “After this resumption of homeporting in Montego Bay it will go to Port Royal and will be back on a full cycle of every week, having the Marella coming to Montego Bay for the weekend and moving out to other ports in the Caribbean,” Minister Bartlett outlined.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; March 8, 2022: As the tourism sector continues to rebound, Jamaica is again breaking visitor arrival records, with some 27,000 tourists arriving on the island last weekend, March 3 to 6.

“The tourism industry is now poised for full recovery,” declared Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett in response to the four-day figures. He cited the weekend as being “particularly strong in the context of Jamaica bouncing back from the devastation dealt to the tourism sector by the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years.”

He added that achieving this record as the sector seeks to rebound from COVID-19 was of particular significance, as it coincided with the anniversary of Jamaica recording its first case of the virus on March 10, 2020.

Over the weekend, there were some 8,700 visitors on Saturday, the highest number for any given day since the reopening of Jamaica’s international borders and Minister Bartlett saw this as “critical as it makes the point that the month of March, which traditionally is a good one for winter vacationers, has started out well with bookings indicating a very strong March, paralleling the corresponding month in 2019, which saw the best pre-COVID arrivals for the sector.”

Minister Bartlett said the growing numbers augured well not just in terms of high accommodation in hotels but “this is very important to have our tourism workers back on the job, for our suppliers who were also hard-hit by the fallout but can now have some certainty in terms of the demand to be met.” Furthermore, said Mr. Bartlett: “It also signals to our investment and financing partners that we can now feel a little sense of confidence to supply more resources to satisfy the visitors’ consumption needs.”

Minister Bartlett had a special word of encouragement for players in the agricultural sector, which has forged linkages with the hospitality and tourism industry in the drive to satisfy the gastronomic needs of visitors to the island. “We are excited now by the prospect of our agricultural sector being on board and only recently I was in St Elizabeth providing some support to farmers to help boost productivity,” he said.

Mr. Bartlett outlined that “the growth of tourism had far-reaching implications for other sectors, such as entertainment, culture as well as service providers, all of whom will be pivotal to Jamaica’s Blue Ocean Tourism Strategy, in which we will be capitalizing on the competitive edge we have in these areas to grow and sustain the industry.”

He noted that now is the opportune time for all local producers to be on board as “we maintain our focus on recovery, and we want to recover with you so that the supply chain of tourism can be infused with strong local content that will keep the tourist dollar in Jamaica and ensure the real profits from tourism ultimately benefit the Jamaican people.”

KINGSTON, Jamaica; February 28, 2022: While keeping a close eye on the global instability created by the war in Ukraine, Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett is sounding a positive note for continued buoyancy in Jamaica’s tourism industry.

Coming out of a retreat hosted by the Ministry in Montego Bay on the weekend to examine the recently tabled supplementary estimates, Minister Bartlett lamented the devastation caused by the conflict and underscored the need for a peaceful resolution.

He added that based on an assessment of Jamaica’s main tourism source markets, “notwithstanding the situation in Europe, we are still on a strong recovery path and the retreat allowed for the Ministry and its public bodies to look at engendering further growth of the sector after two years of extreme challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Minister Bartlett said “the tourism sector is primed for growth and we have assurances, especially from our travel partners in the USA and Europe, of confirmed plans for increased flights to Jamaica, starting between April and May. We are, however, constantly assessing the impact of the situation in Ukraine and its implications, especially in light of decisions being taken by airlines to restrict flights between Russia and various countries.”

Mr. Bartlett also disclosed that progress reports were received at the retreat from chairmen of the Tourism Recovery Task Force Committees, set up in light of the pandemic to examine various aspects of the industry and make recommendations on the way forward to expedite the sector’s recovery.

“Over the next few weeks, we will be analyzing these reports and will discuss relevant recommendations with our tourism partners and make a determination on the implementation programme going forward,” said Mr. Bartlett.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; February 26, 2022: Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett has paid tribute to the late Hon Guiseppe “Pino” Maffessanti, noting the outstanding role he has played in the physical development of Jamaica’s tourism product.

For more than five decades through his companies, Maffessanti Builders and Maffessanti Bros, he was a stalwart who played an integral role in the tourism industry, designing and building several architecturally outstanding hotels, villas and apartments.

Mr. Maffessanti who passed on yesterday (February 25), was also a well-known philanthropist, especially to church and educational institutions and through service clubs, giving selflessly to community projects.

In lamenting his passing Minister Bartlett said “Pino Maffessanti was one of a kind in terms of his love for humanity and his philanthropic responses to so many of the great social calls of St James in particular and the wider Catholic community.”

He noted that Mr. Maffessanti understood what development was about and how to build communities, “build human settlements and to provide for the benefit of all. More importantly, he had a love for humanity and this was demonstrated in his charity; always involved in doing things for the less fortunate as exemplified through his work with the Good Shepherd Foundation, which he chaired for many years, and the Catholic Church. These stand out as clear examples of the nature of the man.”

In 2018 Mr. Maffessanti was honoured by the Government of Jamaica, which bestowed on him the Order of Jamaica (OJ) for his sterling contribution to the construction industry, social development, welfare and philanthropy. Prior to receiving that national award, he had received the Order of Distinction, in the rank of Commander.

He was also made a Knight of the Order of St Gregory the Great, one of the highest honours in the Catholic Church.

Italian by birth, he made Jamaica and specifically Montego Bay his home since migrating here in the early 1950s, and succeeded his father in running the construction company he had established. Under “Pino’s” management, Maffessanti Buildings became a household name, especially in Western Jamaica where they earned a reputation for high standards, and quality work.

Among the hotels that bear the signature of Maffessanti Builders are the famous Round Hill, Tryall Club, Couples Sans Souci and Shaw Park.

“He was a pioneer in the physical development of much of Western Jamaica and has left landmark projects across the parishes of St James and Hanover. Pino Maffessanti has made an indelible mark on Jamaica’s tourism landscape and while he was honoured by a grateful nation during his lifetime, it is also fitting that on the occasion of his passing, we also pay tribute to him,” said Minister Bartlett, noting that he was “a good family man and we respect him for the exemplary family life he lived.”

Minister Bartlett said Mr. Maffessanti “will be deeply missed by all of us but more so by his devoted wife Daniela and his two children, Mark and Nancy and on behalf of all of us in Jamaica, particularly in St James, and my own family in particular, I want to offer our sincere condolences to the grieving family.”

Dubai, UAE; February 18, 2022: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, is calling for a more collective and inclusive approach among countries globally to overcome the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, particularly in relation to vaccine access.

Speaking during a Global Tourism Resilience Forum at EXPO2020 Dubai on Thursday (February 17), Mr. Bartlett said countries have generally “not learned to respond together to global actions” citing the pandemic “as a good example of this”.

“Initially, we all came to understand that we have to rely on science to tell us exactly what this phenomenon is. Then we all came to understand that we needed to… get, analyse and use data to guide a set of actions,” he noted.

Mr. Bartlett said out of these actions evolved protocols, and thereafter, vaccines resulting from scientific research.

He pointed out, however, that while vaccine development has been a notable achievement, equitable distribution is yet to materialise.

“So, we have a situation where 10 per cent of the world had 80 per cent of the vaccines, and even today, when several strains have come and gone [with the possibility of] more to come, a sizeable portion of the world is still less than 20 per cent [vaccinated],” the Minister lamented.

Mr. Bartlett maintained that the rate of economic recovery and return to normality are conditional on the level of vaccination and the extent to which COVID-19 protocols have been applied.

“So, where we find that the drive for ‘my recovery’ supersedes the drive for ‘our recovery’, the world has been set back… and that’s the real issue. What we really want to see out of this [effort] is that resilience building for recovery should not be selfishly [undertaken]… because we all will recover if everyone is included in the recovery process,” he emphasised.

Source:  Jamaica Information Service (JIS)

Dubai, UAE; February 17, 2022: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, on Thursday (February 17) launched Global Tourism Resilience Day during EXPO2020 Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Day, which is the brainchild of Mr. Bartlett, will be observed annually on February 17.

The observance forms part of the thrust to heighten global tourism stakeholder awareness and actions towards strengthening the industry’s capacity to address and recover quickly from crises and shocks, such as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and fortifying its resilience and sustainability.

The launch, which was addressed virtually by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, took place at the DP World Pavilion and formed part of the itinerary for Jamaica’s delegation, headed by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, which is participating in the global expo from February 16 to 20.

Mr. Holness said that the global tourism industry’s emergence from the fallout caused by COVID-19 is a “critical determinant” of the overall pace of economic recovery worldwide, particularly among the most tourism-dependent regions, including the Caribbean.

He noted that while the magnitude of COVID-19 is unprecedented, “there will, no doubt, be other significant challenges that the industry will face, including those posed by climate change”.

“This necessitates a posture that understands the various threats to the industry and the need for a proactive approach to enhancing readiness and capacity to meet the challenges of the present and the future,” the Prime Minister said.

Mr. Holness cited several important lessons emerging from the pandemic, among them the need for greater and more active commitment to behavioural changes among all stakeholders to reduce environmental, social, and human health risks.

He said it is anticipated that more tourists “will opt for sustainable destinations in the post-COVID era”, and destinations failing to reorient themselves towards meeting the demands “are likely to be left behind”.

“The increased demand for a more sustainable brand of tourism, presents an opportunity to prioritise the responsible use of natural resources, the preservation of the assets of the host countries and the strengthening of local involvement and participation in the tourism value chain,” the Prime Minister said.

He noted that the task of resilience-building is especially urgent for regions and subregions with a high degree of tourism dependence, and committed support to “any engagement, initiative or project that seeks to bring intellectual, scientific, innovative, and entrepreneurial minds and energies together for the purpose of sharing and exchanging more resources to solve common problems facing the industry”.

In this regard, Mr. Holness said the convening of a conference at the expo focusing on tourism resilience “is, perhaps, now more fitting than at any other point in the history of the tourism industry”.

He noted that the conference, which took place following the GlobalTourism Resilience Dayclaunch on Thursday, is an “important initiative” and praised the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre for conceptualising and coordinating the event.

“I’m confident that policy, ideas, strategies, frameworks, and models of tourism resilience building will be identified to aid current efforts towards recovery [and] chart our positive future for the industry, and the millions of global citizens whose lives and livelihoods depend on tourism,” Mr. Holness said.

Mr. Bartlett, for his part, noted that many countries have experienced various types of disruptions from which they have not recovered.

“We want focus on capacity-building, primarily for small highly tourism-dependent nations that are vulnerable to many disruptions but are weakly resourced to respond effectively to it,” he said.

He urged industry stakeholders to leverage Global Tourism Resilience Day “to make that statement that the world will now have a chance to predict, mitigate, manage, recover, and recover quickly and then thrive after disruptions”.

Source:  Jamaica Information Service (JIS)

AMMAN, February 20, 2022 Ministers of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett and Hon Najib Balala arrived in Amman to meet with Minister Al Fayez of Jordan to inaugurate the Global Tourism Resilience and Disaster Management Centre -MENA at Middle East University to be referred to as the Taleb Rifai Centre under the leadership of Professor Salam Almahadin, President of the University.  The agreement was signed at a ceremony held on the University’s campus with all Ministers present and a large contingent of travel sector leaders.  This is the sixth such satellite Centre to open, an initiative of its Co-Chairs, Edmund Bartlett and Dr. Rifai.

The GTRCMC has also successfully launched at Expo 2020 in Dubai, a multi-tier, international campaign to build resilience in the global travel industry through expansion of the Global Tourism Resilience and Disaster Management Centres, the publication of a book on Tourism Resilience, the delivery of the Tourism Resilience Declaration and Fund plus the announcement of an annual day of recognition, Feb 17 as Global Tourism Resilience Day.

The GTRCMC model requires partnership with an outstanding institution of higher learning, namely a well-situated university with scope inclusive of management, research, innovation, civics, policy creation and international development.  Middle East University is an outstanding partner and will be the regional driver for further expansion in the Middle East and North Africa.  Opened in 2005, MEU has 9 faculties, 24 departments, 185 professors, 5,000 students, 26 undergraduate and 9 Master degree subjects.

The University will host the Taleb Rifai Centre and strive to constantly deliver an academically rigorous environment that will identify solutions and communicate widely.  The University will seek funding to conduct research and develop policies in tourism resilience and crisis management, provide capacity building for the tourism sector as well as any related sectors, and provide tool­ kits and guidelines on tourism resilience. It will utilize its professional relations with other universities across the region and beyond to establish bilateral, multilateral projects and exchange programs,” explained Professor Almahadin.

In Dubai, on February 17, the GTRCMC signed and launched partnerships with Canadian and Bulgarian schools of higher learning.  In Toronto, George Brown College has 7 academic centres and school locations. It is located on the traditional territory of the Mississauga’s of the Credit First Nation and other Indigenous peoples. The College’s sharing of this land exemplifies the treaty between people who learn, work and live in the community with each other.

In Bulgaria, the 100-year-old University of National and World Economy which is the oldest and largest school of economics in Bulgaria and South-east Europe was the selected partner under the tutelage of MP and former Tourism Minister, Nikolina Angelkova.  UNWE has 8 faculties, 34 departments, 500 lecturers, 43 bachelor’s degree programs and 88 Master degree specialties with 41 PhD programs available for 22,000 students and is located in the heart of Sophia.

“The students at all these universities are critical to the program’s success, in that it starts with research, understanding and developing the regional risk profile, recommending best practices to influence policy-making based on empirical data and other success-based programs,” Minister Bartlett elaborated.  “It’s a 5-step program starting with the youth: research, evaluate, mitigate, respond and recover,” stated the Hon Edmund Bartlett, Co-Chair of the GTRCMC.”

His Excellency, Minister Al-Fayez of Jordan, added, “We welcome the inception of the Taleb Rifai Centre here at the Middle East University. We trust that this initiative will play a key role in delivering resilience, robustness and agility to the tourism industry which is one of the most important sectors in the Jordanian economy through its 13% contribution to GDP.”..//..

The Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, headquartered in Jamaica, at the University of the West Indies (Mona campus), was the first academic resource centre dedicated to addressing crises and resilience for the travel industry of the region. The GTRCMC assists destinations in preparedness, management, and recovery from disruptions and/or crises that impact tourism and threaten economies and livelihoods globally. Since its inception in 2018, several Satellite Centres have been launched in Kenya, Canada, Jordan, and Bulgaria. Others are in the process of inscription in Costa Rica, Nigeria, Spain, Greece, and Ghana. gtrcmc.org

International Tourism Investment Corporation Ltd, a London-based company which owns ITIC, facilitates challenging dialogue between tourism industry leaders and stakeholders on the sustainable development of tourism and travel and collaborate with governments, investors and project owners to create joint ventures that invest in developing innovative tourism and travel facilities, infrastructure and services that benefit all stakeholders, especially the host countries and their peoples. Itic.uk

The Global Travel and Tourism Resilience Council established in 2016 by the Jacobs Media Group with the goal of improving travellers’ confidence, the Council is a public private platform bringing together industry leaders and government to address preparedness, crisis management and resiliency through thought leadership delivered via media and dedicated events. resiliencecouncil.com

For more information please contact, Laurie Myers at laurie.myers@jacobsmediagroup.com or telephone/What’s App +1949742-9648

KINGSTON, Jamaica; February 14, 2022: Jamaica’s drive to secure a share of the lucrative tourism market in the Middle East, takes a key step forward today with Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett commencing a series of engagements with major decision makers and travel partners in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Minister Bartlett will follow up on investment and new market opportunities first broached while in the Middle East in October, 2021.

“Over the past two years Jamaica and Dubai have forged a very strong bond allowing for the creation of linkages that have been paving the way for a meaningful tourism partnership,” says Minister Bartlett who departed the island for Dubai on Saturday to fulfil a series of official engagements over the next few days in the UAE. Among his high-level engagements are meetings with Jordan’s Minister of Tourism, His Excellency Al Fayez and decision-makers of Royal Jordanian Airlines.

Minister Bartlett’s tight schedule also includes the World Travel Awards event being held today (February 14), travel to Abu Dhabi tomorrow for crucial discussions with representatives of Etihad Airways, officials from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority; bilateral meetings on Wednesday and Thursday with the Dubai Tourism Authority, Emirates Airlines and investors, and on Friday, February 18, a special Jamaica Day programme at the Dubai Exhibition Centre.

High on Minister Bartlett’s agenda is the launch by the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) of ‘Global Tourism Resilience Day’ on February 17, 2022, the day before Jamaica Day celebrations at Expo 2020 Dubai. Minister Bartlett is founder and Co-chair of the GTRCMC, which will inaugurate the recognition of the annual day to highlight the need for destinations to build their capacity to respond to international crises and disruptions.

The GTRCMC, which is based at the University of the West Indies, Mona, will host a Global Tourism Resilience Forum to mark the occasion. The event will be chaired by Executive Director of the GTRCMC, Professor Lloyd Waller. Among the speakers are Prime Minister, the Most Hon Andrew Holness, the Hon Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya, who will both join virtually, as well as several Ministers of Tourism, who will highlight best practices for global tourism resilience and recovery.

Minister Bartlett will participate in a panel discussion on: “Enabling Resilience and Sustainability to Accelerate the Recovery of the Global Tourism Industry.” During the event, the Minister and Prof. Waller will also officially launch their book entitled: “Tourism Resilience and Recovery for Global Sustainability and Development: Navigating COVID-19 and The Future.”

Other Jamaican participants include Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon Kamina Johnson-Smith, who will participate in a panel discussion under the theme: “How are Women Central and Contributing to Transforming the Global Tourism Industry and Increasing its Resilience?” while Executive Chairman of Sandals Resorts, Adam Stewart will participate as a panellist on the topic: “Building Resilience to Attract Investments in the Global Tourism Industry: The New Challenges and Issues.”

“Our tourism partners in the Middle East have truly embraced the GTRCMC conceptualized by Jamaica and during this week the centre will be launching the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regional satellite centre of the international GTRCMC, located at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Jamaica,” Minister Bartlett revealed. 

“This new GTRCMC-MENA regional centre will be located at the Middle East University in Jordan. This is a signal honour for Jamaica. The importance of the GTRCMC-MENA is borne out in the fact that it will cover Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Yemen, UAE, Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Mauritania and by extension, broaden the scope of the centre’s influence,” Minister Bartlett added.

Minister Bartlett, who is accompanied by Director of Tourism, Donovan White, is slated to return to the island on February 22, 2022.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; February 03, 2022: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has revealed that approximately 10,000 persons have already registered for the ground-breaking Tourism Workers Pension Scheme since its launch on January 1, 2022.  

"We reviewed the performance within the first month of the implementation of the pension Scheme, and I am proud to announce that so far approximately 10,000 workers have registered, by way of application, for membership in the scheme," said Bartlett.

"The most crucial part of all this is that in addition to the outstanding work that Guardian Life, which administers the Scheme, has been doing in recruiting persons, is the excellent work that Sagicor is doing in terms of building the Fund, and we are pleased to announce that $43 million has been earned by the fund since we placed it in their management," he added.

The Tourism Workers Pension Scheme is a defined contributory plan supported by legislation and requires mandatory contributions by workers and employers.

It is designed to cover all workers ages 18–59 years in the tourism sector, whether permanent, contract or self-employed. This includes hotel workers and people employed in related industries, such as craft vendors, tour operators, red cap porters, contract carriage operators, and workers at attractions. Benefits will be payable at age 65 or older.

The Government of Jamaica has committed J$1 billion to seed the Scheme so that immediate benefits can accrue to qualified pensioners. Sagicor Life Jamaica manages the Fund and Guardian Life Ltd is the administrator.

The Tourism Workers Pension Scheme is arguably the most significant human capital development initiative in the history of Jamaica's tourism sector. It will allow thousands of tourism workers to look forward to a financially secure retirement and is expected to benefit some 350,000 employees in the tourism sector immediately.

A vital feature of this pension scheme is that it allows workers to move around within the industry, taking their benefits without being penalised or losing any of their contributions.

"We are excited that the scheme has started on a very good note and that the response from the workers has been good. We want to urge more tourism workers to support this important initiative. Please get onboard and register for the Scheme so that we can meet the target of getting 350,000 workers, employers, self-employed people, and any other group connected to the sector to enroll,” Minister Bartlett expressed.

“I commend the companies that are already involved in the Scheme, and I encourage the other employers to get onboard as well. This Scheme makes a statement about a government that truly cares for the people of the country," said the Minister.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; January 28, 2021:  Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, is encouraging members of the Diaspora to invest in the local tourism sector, which continues to drive Jamaica's economic recovery.

Speaking yesterday during the 'Let's Connect with Ambassador Marks' online series, Bartlett noted that: "We have a Diaspora with enormous wealth, experience, capabilities, talent, skill, and connectivity with communities. We need to be investing in capital formation and new enterprises in Jamaica so that Jamaica can build its capacity to respond to the demand that tourism brings."

He disclosed that one key sector that needs investment is agriculture. He also shared that Jamaica has not been able to produce the required agricultural supplies in the numbers, volume, consistency and at the price point required to supply the hotels.

"The next element that we are moving in on very strongly is to build out the capacity of Jamaica in this current and post COVID-19 period to deliver more on the demand of tourism. We argue that tourism is an extractive industry because we have not been able to supply the agricultural demands of the industry," said Bartlett.

"It is important that the highest level of production and output be available at all times. When that is not so, it must be had regardless, and therein lies the problem of leakages within the economy. We bring together the potential for increasing the production patterns within our country, which has to be driven by investments or public-private partnerships. So, we also need investments in the manufacturing of various goods that are utilized in the industry," he added.

"When we look at other services, such as energy, communication, financial, insurance, health, and transportation, billions of dollars are spent on transfers of visitors from airports to hotels and attractions. Investment is also needed in attractions because tourism fulfils the passions of people, and they travel to do just that," said the Minister.

During his presentation, he also disclosed that the Jamaican Government will be targeting more high-end investments in the sector.

"I think we have reached the level in room count for mass tourism, and we are moving now to high-end. So, it will be lower density and higher-end, with higher average daily rates and stronger input on value-added," he said.

He also announced that Jamaica would be pioneering Global Tourism Resilience Day in Dubai in the coming weeks, endorsed by major international stakeholders.

"Jamaica is also suggesting to the world that on the 17th of February, starting this year, the world should pause and reflect on the critical importance of building resilience. So, we will be establishing in Dubai, during Jamaica Week, the first-ever Global Tourism Resilience Day. We have had the endorsement of the great gatekeepers of tourism in the world – UNWTO, WTTC, PATA, and the OAS," he said.

'Let's Connect with Ambassador Marks' enables members of the Diaspora to communicate directly with the Ambassador about mutually beneficial issues and to stay informed about the Government's policies and programmes, as well as the Embassy's activities. Jamaican Ambassador to the United States, Audrey Marks is occasionally joined by various distinguished guests, including government ministers, US government officials, key players in various local and international organizations, and prominent members of the Jamaican Diaspora.