KINGSTON, Jamaica; April 22, 2022: Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett and a high-level team are scheduled to arrive in London tomorrow (Saturday), which marks the start of a mega marketing tour to further boost growth in the island’s tourism industry.

Supported by Director of Tourism, Donovan White and other representatives, the team will be locked in a series of back-to-back engagements in London over the next six days. “The UK is our second largest source market for stop over visitors and this visit is to initiate discussions aimed at boosting arrivals and earnings,” said Minister Bartlett.

The London blitz includes media exposure through interviews with several major media outlets and travel writers, as well as meetings with key stakeholders such as Virgin Atlantic. Mr. Bartlett will also address top UK tour operators who sell Jamaica at a special recognition dinner.

Other highlights of Mr. Bartlett’s London trip include his induction into the Global Travel Hall of Fame at a grand gala next Thursday. Inductees who are selected from among outstanding business leaders, are recognized for having created a lasting legacy in the travel, tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors.

Earlier in the week Mr. Bartlett will join his colleague Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon Olivia “Babsy” Grange at two events to promote Jamaica 60 independence activities among the Diaspora.

Mr. Bartlett stated: “Celebrating 60 years of independence is significant, not just in terms of years, but Jamaica’s achievements. Many members of the Diaspora either would have left here at a young age or were born in the UK and have not had the opportunity of seeing the strides being made in their homeland, and our message to them is to come see and enjoy the beauty, the culture, the music and cuisine in the land of Marcus Garvey, Bob Marley and all the great men and women who have contributed and are still doing so, to the development of our island home.”

The UK launch of the book, “Tourism Resilience and Recovery for Global Sustainability and Development: Navigating COVID-19 and the Future”, edited by Minister Bartlett and Executive Director of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC), Professor Lloyd Waller will also take place on Thursday.

The marketing tour will then move on to New York, Africa, Canada, Europe and Latin America, with breaks in between.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; April 21, 2022: Elated by the rate at which Jamaica’s tourism industry is recovering from the devastating COVID-19 fallout, Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett is all set to embark on a global marketing tour to boost visitor arrivals.

Arrival figures indicate that “this winter, closing at the end of April, is going to see in excess of a 70 per cent recovery in tourism in Jamaica,” Minister Bartlett disclosed at yesterday’s (April 20) ground-breaking for RIU’s seventh hotel in Jamaica – the 753-room RIU Aquarelle. Inclusive of cruise passengers, Jamaica is looking at just under one million visitors and earnings of about US$1.5 billion.

Additionally, “bookings for summer are now looking better than pre-COVID in 2019 and we’re just hitting the market,” said Mr. Bartlett as a prelude to disclosing that this Friday (April 22) he leaves the island with a team “to start a mega marketing campaign across the world.”

The first stop is in the United Kingdom this weekend when he will join Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange in promoting activities to mark Jamaica’s 60th anniversary of independence.

The tourism team will move on to New York to stimulate travel from the US North-eastern Seaboard, inclusive of New Jersey, Connecticut, extending to Boston. “And then we leave from there and we hit the new market of the Middle East. We’re meeting with all the mega airlines, including Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, S.A.L. and we’re going over to Riyadh as well to meet with King Khalid, their big aviation company, which wants to open 225 new gateways and we want Jamaica to be in that,” said Minister Bartlett.

The itinerary also includes a meeting with representatives of Royal Jordanian Airlines, as a plan is rolled out to establish Jamaica as the hub for the Middle Eastern market for the Caribbean and the Americas.

With breaks in between, the marketing tour will also go on to Africa, Canada, Europe and Latin America.

At the end of the global marketing blitz in October, Minister Bartlett expects to have agreements signed for an additional 8,000 new hotel rooms in Jamaica.

Delivering the keynote address at the ground-breaking ceremony, Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness lauded RIU Hotels for investing in seven hotels in Jamaica in 21 years, describing it as a remarkable achievement.

He invited the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Carmen Riu to explore building an eighth hotel on the south-eastern coast, which Jamaica is developing for a different kind of tourism experience.

“Tourism and hospitality have become very important to us here in Jamaica which, thanks to investments like (that of) the Riu family, our tourism product has become a sought-after destination in the Caribbean region,” expressed Mr. Holness. He said over the years the tourism industry had taken on increased significance “because the truth is that the government has focused on the industry, giving leadership and direction and emphasis to the industry.”

Señora Riu said the company currently has 3,500 rooms in Jamaica and employs 2,200 workers. During the COVID-19 pandemic induced shutdown, the RIU Montego Bay and RIU Ocho Rios hotels were refurbished, and all their hotels in Jamaica have now been updated with new services being offered.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; April 20, 2022: Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has expressed profound sadness at the passing of the General Manager of Bath Fountain Hotel, Mr. Desmond Blair who had headed the St. Thomas attraction since 2001.  Bath Fountain is one of the tourism ministry’s eight public bodies.

“I am deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Mr. Blair. On behalf of the entire tourism fraternity, I would like to offer my condolences to his family.  He was a thorough and astute manager who used best practices that led to great improvements at Bath Fountain,” said Minister Bartlett.

“He was passionate about seeing improvements to the health and wellness facility that would cement its status as a world-renowned mineral bath and was looking forward to impending developments that would do so.  I am saddened that Mr. Blair will not see these changes come to fruition but very grateful for his many years of dedicated service to the local tourism industry. May his soul rest in peace,” the tourism minister added.

The St. Ann native was a stalwart in the hospitality industry, having honed his skills over the decades in management positions at various Montego Bay and St. Ann properties, including Quality Inn, Montego Bay Club Resort, the Gloucestershire Hotel, Americana Hotel and Runaway Bay Hotel.  From 1975-1981, he was the Hotel Inspector at another of the Ministry’s public bodies, the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo).

In 1972, Mr. Blair was awarded a scholarship by the Federal Republic of Germany to pursue studies in hotel and tourism management at the Carl Duisberg Hotel & Tourism Institute in Munich, Germany.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; April 13, 2022: Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has been recognized among 50 global icons of travel and tourism “who have innovated and created new benchmarks in the travel, aviation, tourism, hospitality and allied sectors.”

This latest accolade for Minister Bartlett is recorded in a book written by veteran journalist and Secretary General of the powerful Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA), Sagar Ahluwalia.

In 2018 PATWA awarded Mr. Bartlett Minister of the Year for Sustainable Tourism, adding to the numerous awards conferred on him over 40 years of public service. In 2017 he was accorded Caribbean Tourism Minister of the Year at the Caribbean Travel Awards.

In global icons of travel and tourism, Mr. Bartlett is recognized as having positioned tourism “as a catalyst for economic growth and the transformation of communities” and establishing the five networks (Gastronomy; Shopping, Attractions and Transportation; Health and Wellness; Sports and Entertainment; and Knowledge) to fuel growth.

Mr. Bartlett has also initiated the Tourism Linkages Network (TLN) within the Ministry to strengthen sustainable linkages between tourism and other sectors of the economy. The TLN is a division of the Tourism Enhancement Fund and is governed by a Council comprised of public and private sector leaders.

“The region has also benefited from the minister’s innovative thinking, as he views other Caribbean and Latin American destinations not as Jamaica’s competitors but as partners that can use their combined tourism offerings to attract more visitors to experience multi-destination tourism,” states the citation which identifies him as “an ardent proponent of public private partnerships (PPPS), which he considers essential to the sustainable development of the tourism industry.”

Mr. Bartlett was first appointed Minister of Tourism in 2007, serving until December 2011.  Subsequently, as a member of the Shadow Cabinet, he travelled the world forging alliances with strategic partners for global initiatives which he has been implementing since returning to the helm of the Ministry of Tourism in 2016.

Hailed as one of the world’s leading Tourism Ministers, Mr. Bartlett has represented Jamaica regionally and internationally, serving as Chairman of the Board of Affiliate Members of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), and Vice Chairman of the UNWTO Executive Council, as well as Vice Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO).

He received the International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) Champions in Challenge Award at the International Travel Crisis Management Summit (ITCMS) in London in November 2018 and served as Chair of the Regional Commission for the Americas (CAM). Minister Bartlett was recently elected by acclamation as the new Chairman of the Organization of American States (OAS) Inter-American Committee on Tourism (CITUR).

Mr. Bartlett is also founder and Co-Chair with former Secretary General of the UNWTO, Taleb Rifai, of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) at the University of the West Indies, Mona, which has been gaining worldwide acceptance with satellite centres being established in areas such as Canada, Kenya, Jordan, Bulgaria and London. In 2019 he was officially presented with the TRAVVY Awards inaugural Chairman’s Award for Global Tourism Innovation.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; April 11, 2022: Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett yesterday (April 10) met with key officials to advance discussions on the much-anticipated development of St. Thomas as the next tourism frontier. The move is in keeping with Government’s commitment to transforming the eastern parish into one of the premier sustainable destinations in the world.

The meeting with St. Thomas Eastern Member of Parliament, Dr. Michelle Charles and other officials focused on the Rocky Point Beach, which is one of 14 beaches across the island that will be developed during this fiscal year as part of the Tourism Enhancement Fund’s (TEF) National Beach Development Programme.

The TEF project aims to enhance public access to beaches to ensure their availability with all the necessary amenities and safety measures in place. Where applicable, each beach will receive at a minimum, changing and restroom facilities, perimeter fencing, parking, gazebos, bandstands, children’s play areas, seating, lighting, walkways, electricity, water and sewage treatment facilities.

Minister Bartlett emphasized that “St. Thomas is set to be transformed into a premier sustainable destination where visitors and Jamaicans alike will increasingly enjoy the unique ecosystems and cultural heritage of this unique parish.”

For its part, the Ministry of Tourism has already devised a Tourism Destination Development and Management Plan for the parish, which will see approximately US$205 million being expended over the next decade “to unlock more than twice that amount in private investment.”

In addition to the Rocky Point Beach development, Mr. Bartlett said other projects on steam for this year included the establishment of way finding stations in Yallahs, rehabilitation of the road to Bath Fountain Hotel, as well as leveraging strategic partnerships to develop heritage sites such as Fort Rocky and the Morant Bay Monument. Concurrently, other arms of government are supporting this thrust by undertaking significant upgrades to the road and water pipeline networks.

In his Sectoral Presentation to Parliament last Tuesday, Minister Bartlett disclosed that “during Fiscal Year 2022/23, we will continue to engage a wide number of partners to accelerate the pace of development for the next few years, bringing a wide array of new opportunities to the people of the parish.”

He adds that “this initiative is projected to bring tremendous economic, infrastructure and investment benefits to the parish by 2030, including 4,170 new hotel rooms and 230,000 stopover visitors. Additionally, visitor expenditure of US$244 million is expected, creation of 13,000 direct and indirect jobs and US$508 million in private investments.”

The St. Thomas meeting was also attended by former Speaker of the House, Pearnel Charles.

Kingston, Jamaica; April 08, 2022: This year, the Jamaica Centre of Tourist Innovation is raising public awareness of its certification programmes, with a particular focus on the Hotel and Tourism Management Programme for high schools, in order to prepare the incoming workforce to better satisfy the emerging expectations of the tourism and hospitality industry. 

"The work being done by the JCTI is extremely critical to our continued push for human capital development. Our people are the driving force behind our continued success, and we understand that to stay top of mind in the market and preserve our competitive advantage, we must invest in our people by training and certifying them to improve their stackable credentials," said Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett. 

"The HTMP programme is particularly critical. In fact, the first cohort of the HTMP has completed their course of study in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Youth. These 177 graduates now have an AHLEI certificate and an Associate Degree in Customer Service, and they are prepared to work in entry-level positions in the sector. We are confident that these young individuals from all around the country will help to boost the sector's competitiveness in the post-COVID-19 future, "he added. 

The JCTI anticipates that in two years, many of these graduates will be qualified for certification as supervisors because of their work experience and training. Supervisors who have earned certification are usually on a clear path to becoming managers. 

Graduates will obtain two types of certifications: the HTMP Certificate from the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) and an OAD in Customer Service from the Ministry of Education & Youth upon completion. 

Graduates will have training in housekeeping, resort operations, food and beverage, and finance through HTMP. Customer service, workplace communications, computer applications, and conversational Spanish are among the OAD courses. Workplace psychology is among the list of specialised courses. 

Since the JCTI's inception in 2017, more than 10,000 people have benefited from certification. JCTI is expanding its Learning Management System to Caribbean tourism workers and students this year, as well as launching a database of certified workers. All of the agency's projects are linked to the Human Capital Development Strategy of the Ministry of Tourism.

Honourable Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism, told an industry meeting last week that Jamaica must train human resources and design for portability in order to meet new needs and ensure its own survival. 

In a similar vein to the Minister, Clifton Reader, President of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, stated that his group is collaborating with educational institutions to align human resource demands with available opportunities. 

According to JCTI Director Carol Rose Brown, the agency is aggressive about certification and anticipates demand for its courses to increase as the hospitality industry recovers.

The Director also anticipates greater collaboration among the partners in the sector to align training and certification with demand, as well as closer relationships between the hotel managers and the universities. These developments augur well for the sector.

Kingston, Jamaica: Friday April 08, 2022:  A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) project is being developed by the Ministry of Tourism and its public body, the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), to provide a systematic method for planning, executing, managing, and developing a business continuity management system in compliance with ISO 22301:2019, the Business Continuity Management System standard.

"As we strive to develop a more inclusive sector, the Ministry and its public bodies are working earnestly to ensure that local suppliers remain resilient and are better able to provide the products and services that our visitors need. This guidebook will aid greatly in this regard. This is especially important in light of the current economic fallout caused by COVID-19, which put a strain on every sector of the economy, prime among them the tourism industry, which is now rebounding nicely and providing the driving force needed to foster continued growth in the national economy," said Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett.

"I look forward to hearing the success stories from users of this critical tool, which will help to streamline our efforts to build a stronger, more resilient sector, which will benefit each and every Jamaican and our entire nation," he added.

The BCP Guidebook was created to help tourism businesses better prepare for unexpected events like the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced some tourism enterprises to close their doors until further notice while others fought to stay open.

It includes easy-to-follow guidelines through a BCP Guidebook and other mechanisms that will assist tourism enterprises to identify, mitigate, and respond to the negative impacts of natural and man-made disasters as well as pandemics.

With the help of the business consulting firm Phoenix Business Insight Limited, TEF has been able to offer strategic support to tourism enterprises to become more resilient. The kickoff for the project was held in July 2021, and in February 2022, an exciting BCP training series was hosted to develop the capacity of fifteen (15) trainers from the Tourism Development Company Limited (TPDCO), the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) and municipal corporations.

The participants of the training will lead the charge for a more resilient tourism sector by directly engaging with tourism operators to guide them in the development of business continuity plans for their businesses. The critical areas of the training, which included risk assessment, impact analysis, crisis communication, and recovery planning, were examined to guide tourism enterprises along the path to preparation and recovery.

"Tourism is the lifeblood of Jamaica.  It is an industry that accounts for 9.5 percent of Jamaica's GDP, 50 percent of the country's foreign exchange profits, and employs 170,000 people directly while indirectly affecting another 100,000. As a result, when the pandemic struck in 2019, we felt compelled to provide assistance to this vital sector through a variety of projects and activities aimed at not only assisting them in their recovery, but also better mitigating future disasters," said Dr. Carey Wallace, Executive Director of the Tourism Enhancement Fund.

"I congratulate my team at the TEF on yet another unique initiative aimed at strengthening our industry. I am confident that the Business Continuity Plan (BCP) project will be extremely beneficial to our industry as we continue to recover," he added.

At the close of the training series, Gis’elle Jones, Manager of Research and Risk Management at TEF, stated that, "The 4-day training series conducted by Phoenix Business Insight Limited was a huge success. We are going to schedule interventions where trainers will go out in the sector over the next financial year. We want to make sure that when disruptions hit, all tourism entities, whether small, medium, or large, are able to bounce back and, if they can, take preventative measures. "

Other mechanisms to support the sector in the preparation of BCPs include a business continuity video series that will be published in the first quarter of the financial year as well as sensitization sessions. Business continuity planning resources will be made available to all players in the tourism sector through TEF’s website.

Jones added that, "Quite often, small businesses operating in the tourism industry believe that comprehensive planning is only reserved for larger corporations with significant capital outlays." The truth is that every tourism organization needs a BCP that is structured based on their risk of being exposed to pre- and post-disaster threats that can disrupt their operations and result in costly setbacks. "

Through this project, TEF is actively enhancing the resilience of businesses within the tourism sector to ensure that tourism operators are ready to face current and future uncertainties.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; April 6, 2022: Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has painted a picture of Jamaica’s tourism industry as a sector booming with investment and arrivals as it emerges stronger and more resilient from the fallout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an upbeat Sectoral Presentation to Parliament yesterday (April 5), Mr. Bartlett declared that: “By the end of 2023, the number of visitors to Jamaica is predicted to reach 4.1 million, with 1.6 million cruise passengers, 2.5 million stopover arrivals, and US$4.2 billion in revenue.”

He said the stage has been set with a number of initiatives that have been put in place with some already showing positive results. A Tourism Strategy and Action Plan (TSAP) has been devised to help boost the competitiveness of the destination and products, enhance resilience, as well as develop and deploy mechanisms to promote innovation and entrepreneurship within the sector. The TSAP is to be finalized during this financial year.

Concurrently, implementation of the Blue Ocean Strategic Framework introduced last year, will continue guiding data gathering on the shifting preferences of visitors, while providing for suitable accommodations and experiences, ensuring suitable governance arrangements, and critically, train a first-class workforce to share world-leading goods and services with visitors.

With new investments and new markets being targeted, the stage is now set for a return to the pre-COVID-19 growth pattern.

Despite the challenges faced in the industry, Mr. Bartlett said the investment climate was booming with Jamaica experiencing its largest hotel and resort development expansion in any single year. “A total of $2 billion will be invested to bring 8,500 rooms on stream over the next five to ten years, creating some 24,000 part-time and full-time jobs and at least 12,000 jobs for construction workers,” he outlined.

Currently under construction are the 2,000-room Princess Resort in Hanover, nearly 2,000 rooms in the multi-faceted Hard Rock Resort development consisting of three other hotel brands; just under 1,000 rooms being built by Sandals and Beaches in St. Ann.

Additionally, the hotel infrastructure will be boosted by the 1,000-room Viva Wyndham Resort north of Negril, RIU Hotel in Trelawny with approximately 700 rooms, Secrets Resort in Richmond St. Ann, with around 700 rooms and Bahia Principe undertaking a massive expansion by its parent company, Grupo Piñero, out of Spain.

Minister Bartlett expressed delight that 90 per cent of planned tourism investments have remained on track, citing this as “a huge vote of confidence from our investors in Brand Jamaica.”

He posited that these developments in the tourism industry, “will undoubtedly have a positive effect on the economy and directly benefit thousands of Jamaicans,” adding that “at least 12,000 construction workers, multiple building contractors, engineers, project managers, and a variety of other specialists will be needed to assure the timely completion of these projects.” Also, thousands of tourism workers must be trained in areas such as management, food and beverage services, housekeeping, tour guiding, and reception.

The development thrust also includes continuation of the upgrading of Negril in keeping with a Destination Management Plan that is to be finalized in this financial year. Mr. Bartlett said investments envisaged in 13 projects will ensure that Negril keeps pace with or even surpasses similar destinations in the region. Marquee projects include a town centre and beach park, a craft market, a farmer’s market, and a fishing village.

On the island’s eastern end, a premier sustainable destination plan is unfolding for St. Thomas, that will allow visitors and Jamaicans alike to increasingly enjoy the unique ecosystems and cultural heritage of the parish. The Tourism Destination Development and Management Plan for St. Thomas as the new frontier, will see approximately US$205 million in public investment and more than twice that amount in private investment.

Commencing this fiscal year, the Ministry of Tourism will develop Rocky Point Beach, establish way-finding stations in Yallahs, rehabilitate the road to Bath Fountain Hotel, as well as leverage strategic partnerships to develop heritage sites such as Fort Rocky and the Morant Bay Monument while other arms of government undertake significant upgrades to the road and water pipeline networks.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; March 31, 2022: Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett has welcomed a major decision by American Airlines to introduce twice weekly non-stop flights out of USA Miami gateways to the Ian Fleming International Airport in Boscobel, commencing November this year.

In making the announcement today the carrier outlined that “American Airlines is excited to officially announce new service to Ocho Rios – Ian Fleming International Airport (OCJ)! We plan to operate two times weekly from Miami using an Envoy E-175 aircraft.” 

“This is a game-changer for Jamaica’s tourism but especially for the Ocho Rios area which has been looking forward to such a development for quite some time,” says Minister Bartlett. “It also justifies the vision that we had in expanding the airport,” he added.

Mr. Bartlett explained that the American Airlines announcement comes in the wake of a recent meeting between executives of the US carrier and several public and private sector officials in Montego Bay. Among the participants were Minister Bartlett, Minister of Transport and Mining, Hon Audley Shaw; Director of Tourism, Donovan White; Delano Seiveright, Senior Communications Strategist, Ministry of Tourism; Chairman of Sandals Resorts International (SRI), Adam Stewart and SRI executive, Gary Sadler.

The Miami-Ocho Rios flights, slated for Wednesdays and Saturdays, will accommodate between 76 and 88 passengers in business and economy class.

“This non-stop service between the USA and our third international airport is a very valuable addition that will help to meet the aviation needs of Jamaica, and will no doubt encourage other airlines with that size aircraft to fly into that airport and take up the route,” said Mr. Bartlett.

“Having a viable third airport will also help to boost tourist arrivals and facilitate travel and the development of the northwestern belt of St Mary and Portland in addition to connecting members of the Jamaican Diaspora to home,” he said.

 American Airlines has had a long-standing relationship with Jamaica with regularly scheduled non-stop flights out of several US gateways, including Miami, Philadelphia, New York, JFK (John F. Kennedy) Dallas, Charlotte, Chicago and Boston, to Kingston and Montego Bay.

Minister Bartlett stated that: “In terms of fleet size, flights, passenger loads and revenue, American Airlines is the largest mover of people in and out of Jamaica and the new flights are coming at an ideal time when Jamaica is fast recovering lost ground in visitor arrivals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

MONTEGO BAY, St James; Friday April 1, 2022: Since 2016, the Ministry of Tourism’s Speed Networking Event, organized by the Tourism Linkages Network (TLN), has generated over $700 million in business between local small and medium enterprises.

The annual one-day event is geared to putting producers of goods and services for the tourism industry in touch with buyers so as to boost consumption of local products and the local economy.

Speaking at the seventh staging of the TLN Speed Networking event yesterday (March 31, 2022) at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett, underscored that the $700 million generated did not include large businesses, "but the small people who sell condiments, art, crafts, and the basic little things that add value in a hotel situation that enhances the look and feel and enables a tourist to take a little piece of the treasures of Jamaica with them in their suitcase back home."

Mr. Bartlett told the 110 registered sellers and over 50 buyers that their coming together for this purpose was "to establish very strongly that tourism is our business and that we can make wealth stay in Jamaica, rather than leave with the tourists when they go back."

He reminded them that today’s trading environment was different from that of 2019, prior to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic that slowed down activities, but that in the last six or so months, there has been a resurgence "and this return to activity is being challenged by the lack of resources coming from the period of the pause."

He said because of tourism’s resilience over any other industry and its ease of convertibility, "it is the preferred agent for economic recovery after a disruption and recession" and the participants should seize the opportunity created by a slowdown in global trade to produce and market locally.

The value of the speed networking event was also underscored by the presidents of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, Clifton Reader, and the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association, John Mahfood.

Mr. Reader said that with over 350,000 members and associates of the JHTA, there was a deliberate move to link tourism partners to ensure retention of the tourism dollar. "It makes no sense when we announce billions of dollars earned by tourism, but the most important question is always, what is the multiplier effect, and secondly, what is retained in our local communities," Mr. Reader said.

He stressed, "We have to make sure that we build a sustainable tourism sector for the development and enrichment of our people."

Speaking of the quality of the tourism product, Mr. Mahfood said, "Our other business sectors in Jamaica can learn from the tourism sector in terms of developing products that are the best in the world and that offer the best customer service."

He cited TLN Speed Networking as one means of reducing the overdependence on imported food items, stating that the key issue was importing too much and it was time to leverage local manufacturers and help to reduce the production gap.

Noting the need to achieve a sense of equilibrium between the level of imports and the expertise of experts, he pointed to the Speed Networking event as one example of the way forward.

"The Tourism Linkages Speed Networking event characterises a movement towards the ideal of supporting local; this event provides a gateway for Jamaican companies to not only display their products and services, but more importantly, develop partnerships with prospective buyers that will help to improve the outlook of their businesses in the coming years," said Mr. Mahfood.