KINGSTON, Jamaica; May 10, 2021: As regional stakeholders ramp up efforts to woo back tourists and rebuild the sector in the aftermath of the fallout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, has called on Caribbean leaders to raise their voices collectively against the inequitable distribution of vaccines.

“While one in four people in high-income countries has now been vaccinated against COVID-19, only one in more than 500 people in poorer countries has received a jab. Based on the current trend of vaccine inequity it is estimated that the world’s poorest 92 countries will not be able to reach a vaccination rate of 60 percent of their populations until 2023 or later,” Minister Bartlett lamented.

He was delivering the keynote address during a virtual forum on: “Tourism Diplomacy: Rebuilding Tourism Safely”, hosted by the Tourism Linkages Network (TLN), a division of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF). The session was the first in a five-part online forum series, spearheaded by the TLN’s Knowledge Network.

Underscoring the importance of the industry, Minister Bartlett said credible evidence suggested that tourism has now earned the status of an industry that is too big to fail. In that regard, he added, “It is therefore imperative that the sector survives during and beyond the current crisis so that it can continue to fulfill its vital role as a significant catalyst of global economic recovery and growth.”

However, he stressed that without equity in the distribution of vaccines, there would be no recovery for tourism, especially for Caribbean islands which depend heavily on the industry.

“The tourism industry, at both the global and regional levels, must speak up about the vaccine inequity louder than it already has and must play a more significant role in tackling the issues if the industry is to return to any sense of normality, as without vaccine equity there will be no travel recovery,” he warned.

He emphasized that tourism players in the region need to be vigilant. Minister Bartlett said, “Persons within the industry have platforms, connections, expertise and global influence and are therefore able to articulate clearly and loudly to policymakers about the consequences of how things are going and also how they can function in a more morally-appropriate manner.”

He posited, “In the final analysis, if Caribbean economic recovery is to begin this year, if employment is to be restored and tourism returned in a significant way, many more vaccines need to be made available very soon,” not just to safeguard public health but for longer term economic recovery and stability.

Director of Tourism, Donovan White said with the onset of the pandemic in 2020, regional tourism inflows declined by 11 million or 66 percent, relative to 2019 and was felt hard in Jamaica, with revenue generated through tourism taxes and other charges evaporating.

So far, he added, “Only 30 percent of local tourism workers have been back on their jobs full-time with another 10 to 20 percent on part-time, with reduced wages as tourist visits continue to rise steadily.”

On the issue of vaccination inequality and hesitation, he saw the need for public/private sector partnership in educating the public, to ensure success at achieving herd immunity.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; April 27, 2021: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett today convened a high level meeting with regional tourism ministers in Cancun Mexico, to discuss the finalization of arrangements for the implementation of a multi-destination tourism framework and agreement to bolster arrivals.

Mexico, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Panama and Cuba were key players in the discussions and are hoping to finalise this agreement, the first of its kind, to commence by the start of the 2022/2023 Winter Season. This follows years of ongoing discussions between countries in the region to develop multi-destination tourism, in order to fuel growth within the sector.

The meeting, chaired by Jamaica, also focused on establishing a task force, to be led by Mexico and Jamaica, to prepare a draft document by June 2021. “This is being done with the hope that the draft document will be ready for discussion and acceptance at the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s Commission of the Americas (CAM) meeting, which will be held in Kingston on June 19, 2021,”Minister Bartlett explained.

“This agreement will enable joint marketing arrangements between these countries, while also providing tourists with the option to enjoy multi-destination experiences during their vacations at attractive package prices. It will be a game changer in tourism diplomacy and economic convergences in the Caribbean region,” Mr. Bartlett added.

Present at today’s multi-destination meeting were: His Excellency, Miguel David Collado Morales, Minister of Tourism for Dominican Republic; His Excellency, Ivan Eskildsen, Minister of Tourism for Panama; and His Excellency, Miguel Torruco Marqués, Secretary of Tourism, Mexico.

The parties will re-convene tomorrow with the addition of His Excellency,
Julián Guerrero Orozco, Vice Minister of Tourism for Colombia, to discuss the provision of aid to volcano affected St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Her Excellency, Nicole Marrder, Minister of Tourism for Honduras has also been invited to attend.

Minister Bartlett is currently in Cancun, Mexico for the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) Global Summit 2021. The event is being held in partnership with the Government of Quintana Roo, under the theme ‘Uniting the World for Recovery,’ and will run from April 25-27 in Cancun.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; April 26, 2021: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett today participated in a very successful meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Tourism, His Excellency Ahmed Al Khateeb, to discuss investment opportunities and other possible areas of collaboration between both nations.

During their meeting, the Ministers discussed the possibility of Jamaica benefiting from the US$100 million development fund the Government of Saudi Arabia has established in collaboration with the World Bank for small enterprises.

“We also discussed how Jamaica can benefit from investment in a number of areas including tourism infrastructure. I told him about the new destination we are developing in St. Thomas and the possibility for Saudi investment in that area,” said Bartlett.

Both Ministers also examined the issue of boosting tourism resilience. “We also spoke about the collaboration that Jamaica and Saudi Arabia will have in tourism development. These include the establishment of a Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre in Riyadh and collaboration with regards to sustainability and resilience projects,” said Minister Bartlett.

Established in 2017 and housed at the University of the West Indies, Mona, the Global Tourism Resilience & Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) has a mission to assist global tourism destinations with destination preparedness, management and recovery from disruptions and/or crises. The GTRCMC currently has offices in the Caribbean, Africa, and the Mediterranean and affiliates in over 42 countries.

Minister Al Khateeb extended an invitation to Mr. Bartlett to sit on the Board of Governors of the Tourism Academy that is being established in Saudi Arabia. He also asked Minister Bartlett to participate in a mega conference of global tourism ministers in observation of the establishment of the first United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) office outside of Spain, which is being built in Riyadh.

Minister Bartlett outlined that he extended an invitation to Minister Al Khateeb to visit Jamaica, adding that he intends to visit the island in September.

Mr. Bartlett is currently in Cancun, Mexico for the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) Global Summit 2021. The event is being held in partnership with the Government of Quintana Roo, under the theme ‘Uniting the World for Recovery,’ and will run from April 25-27 in Cancun.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; April 22, 2021: Cruise shipping, a key component of Jamaica’s tourism sector which suffered the greatest fallout of all tourism activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is gearing up for a major comeback.

During his 2021 sectoral presentation in parliament on Tuesday (April 20), Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett said Jamaica was seeing “a glimmer of hope” in cruise shipping despite a pandemic-induced standstill in the global cruise industry.

Even as major cruise lines engage the US Center for Disease Control for the right to sail the seas again, Minister Bartlett reported that: “We are pivoting in this crisis to take advantage of a new collaborative approach that will bring greater value for passengers, cruise lines and Destination Jamaica.” The plan, he said, was not only to attract the cruise lines back to the ports of Jamaica, but facilitate greater benefits from partnerships by way of spend and inclusiveness. 

Discussions with cruise partners have already produced an agreement with Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) for the home-porting of its vessels in Montego Bay, starting August 7, this year. This development he says, will be a game-changer.

“Home-porting will provide much greater opportunities to strengthen linkages with other key sectors, such as agriculture and manufacturing.  Cruise ports will see increased spend, which will benefit small businesses and entrepreneurs in the industry,” said Minister Bartlett. He has projected that with the reopening of cruise likely in June 2021, Jamaica could anticipate receiving 570,000 cruise ship visitors. Since March 1, 2020, there has been no cruise arrivals to the island.

This first time home-porting arrangement by a major cruise line will mean revenues for supplies, including water taken on in Montego Bay, and passengers overnighting in hotels. This as homeporting often generates more airlift in and out of destinations and drives additional business for local services such as bunkering, fresh water provisioning, hotel accommodation, garbage disposal and sludge removal.

The Minister explained that NCL will operate two itineraries, one of which will see a ship stopping in Ocho Rios before heading on to Cozumel in Mexico and Honduras, then returning to Montego Bay. The other schedule also includes Ocho Rios, but from there passengers will sail to the ABC Islands, namely, Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao.

Each vessel, which typically has an occupancy of approximately 3,800, passengers, will operate at 50 per cent capacity and passengers will be required to be fully vaccinated and tested prior to boarding.

Mr. Bartlett also outlined that there were plans for another “upscale luxury liner”, The Viking, with capacity for 950 passengers, to also home-port in Montego Bay, starting next August. “What is significant about that home-porting,” he said, “is that they are going to have a Jamaican itinerary, starting in Montego Bay, going to Falmouth, then to Ocho Rios, on to Port Antonio and Port Royal, returning to the western city.”

While convinced that Jamaica could effectively provide its own cruise ship itinerary, Minister Bartlett pointed to the need to improve the ports on the island’s coasts “so we can have a full itinerary for vessels.”

KINGSTON, Jamaica; April 21, 2021: Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett has announced that Jamaica is set to benefit from a major donation from global cruise company, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), to assist in the island’s COVID-19 recovery effort.

In making his 2021 sectoral presentation in parliament yesterday, Minister Bartlett disclosed that NCL has agreed to give Jamaica US$1 million to be utilised in its COVID-19 recovery programme, which entails providing well-needed assistance in building out the health infrastructure needed to facilitate the return of cruise tourism in a safe and seamless manner.

Minister Bartlett said “let me thank Norwegian Cruise Lines for the planned donation of US$1 million or approximately J$150 million to the Government of Jamaica to assist with our COVID-19 management efforts.”

He added that: “They fully understand that the loss of tourism has resulted in significant economic hardship and that, along with the imminent return of cruising this summer, will provide much needed relief to the families, communities and small businesses who are extremely dependent on the tourism industry.”

It was also revealed that the cruise line is also donating US$500,000 to the volcano affected island of St. Vincent & The Grenadines.

Minister Bartlett highlighted that the return of cruise shipping is expected to provide a much-needed boost to the economy and that over the past two years, government has spent billions of dollars upgrading and developing the ports in Ocho Rios, Falmouth and more recently Port Royal, to enhance the country’s capacity to welcome more of the world’s large cruise ships. 

While expressing confidence in the return of cruise tourism the Minister said “I want to assure this Honourable House that we are also putting protocols in place that will ensure that it will not only be a lucrative endeavour but one that is safe and seamless too.”

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica; April 11, 2021: Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, is expressing satisfaction with the build out of the Montego Bay Convention Centre (MBCC) as a COVID-19 vaccination site.  

In a tour of the MBBC yesterday (April 10), the Minister highlighted that: “The size of the MBCC has made it possible to outfit the space to accommodate well needed vaccinations. The MBCC is a public body of the Ministry of Tourism, therefore I am pleased that we are able to provide support for the Ministry of Health and Wellness’ drive to get more people vaccinated and help reduce the spread of the disease.” 

Some of the persons who opted to get vaccinated at the MBCC included many tourism workers in and around the area.  

“The MBCC is also an ideal location for tourism workers, who are in the heart of tourism activities, to get vaccinated. This is very promising as we are encouraging all tourism workers to make the choice to be vaccinated, to protect themselves, their families and guests,” said the Minister.  

Jamaica began its COVID-19 vaccination programme last month and will receive more vaccines in tranches.  

“Jamaica is a very tourism dependent country, and the quicker we are able to get more people vaccinated the quicker we can begin our recovery as confidence in travel will increase. We want our tourism workers to remain safe once the sector begins to boom again, and getting vaccinated is a big step towards that,” added Minister Bartlett.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; April 7, 2021: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has outlined that Jamaica recorded a major increase in stopover arrivals over the Easter holiday weekend, with the island recording the highest number of visitor’s since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“According to preliminary data from the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), Jamaica recorded some 14,983 visitors to the island from April 1 to 5, 2021. Over thirteen thousand of these visitors entered the island via the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay,” the Minister explained.

He indicated that year to date, Jamaica has welcomed some 209,930 passengers to the island, 164,157 of which were tourists.

“I am very heartened by the data we have received, as it shows that Jamaica is still top-of-mind to our visitors and that we are making steady progress towards a full recovery of our sector. I commend the team at the Jamaica Tourist Board, for their aggressive and innovative marketing campaigns, which have clearly been impactful. Special commendation must also be given to our tourism partners and stakeholders for the hard work they also do in marketing Brand Jamaica to the world,” said Minister Bartlett.

The Minister also noted that representatives of the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) and other Government entities, visited a number of properties over the holiday-weekend to inspect entities and also check for compliance, by locals and visitors alike, with COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

“We are happy to share that the reports received by the Ministry indicate that there was strong compliance with the protocols, as players in the sector enforced strict COVID-19 measures over the holiday weekend, despite the high occupancy in most properties. I must therefore laud our stakeholders for ensuring that their guests had a safe yet memorable experience,” Bartlett expressed.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; April 6, 2021: Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett has revealed that Jamaica has finalized arrangements with global cruise company, Norwegian Cruise Line, to homeport one of their vessels in Montego Bay, with service set to begin on August 7, 2021.

“I am very pleased to announce that Jamaica will be a homeport for Norwegian Cruise Line, which will see the return of cruise tourism to Jamaican waters in August. We look forward to welcoming them back to our shores, and I am confident that this important partnership will aid in our effort to rebuild our tourism sector and boost our economy overall,” said Bartlett.

“While we know there are some concerns about the safety of the cruise industry at this time. We want to assure the public that the cruise lines are adhering to strict COVID-19 safety protocols. We have also been working tirelessly to develop the necessary policy and strategic frameworks, which will ensure that this will be a safe, seamless and secure experience, which will be mutually beneficial,” he added.

The Norwegian Joy is the vessel which will be used to transport passengers embarking from Jamaica, and the itineraries will include 7-day packages sailing out of Montego Bay.

“Ultimately, the vessel, which has an occupancy of approximately 3,800, will operate at 50% capacity, in keeping with current COVID-19 protocols in place for the cruise shipping industry.  Passengers will also be required to be fully vaccinated and take a test prior to boarding the ship,” Minister Bartlett explained.

With this announcement, Jamaica now joins a number of other Caribbean destinations that will be homeports for leading cruise lines.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. is a leading international cruise company which operates several brands, including the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. With a combined fleet of 28 ships with approximately 59,150 berths, these brands offer itineraries to more than 490 destinations globally. The Company is slated to introduce nine additional ships through 2027.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; March 30, 2021: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has cautioned global leaders that any requirement for proof of vaccination for travel, which does not take into account the unequal access and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines globally, could be considered discriminatory. 

The Minister made his comments in his capacity as Chair of the Organization of American States (OAS), Inter-American Committee on Tourism (CITUR) Working Group 4, which was developed to create a recovery action plan for the airline and cruise industries.

Speaking recently during the group’s third virtual meeting, Minister Bartlett said: “Effective management of COVID-19 and recovery of the global economy requires a concerted and collaborative effort from all member states. We need to move together on this or else we risk a deterioration of the situation in developing countries, the effects of which will inevitably spread to neighbours in the region and beyond.”

“This is the first step in ensuring that inequity in the distribution of vaccines does not hinder the restart of tourism and related services. Any requirement for proof of vaccination for travel which does not take into account this reality could very well be considered discriminatory,” he added.

He urged members to consider all the implications that a vaccine passport could have, primarily on  tourism-dependent countries. Therefore it is pertinent for the Americas to be a strong voice in introducing the recovery recommendations that will work for the region.

“There can hardly be a harmonised position for digital passports and other bio-sanitary protocols when some countries and regions lag dramatically behind in their health response systems, including the vaccination process. If we remain committed to leaving no one behind, we are best positioned to move farther ahead,” said the Minister.

Bartlett also called for an expeditious review and approval process to facilitate quicker roll-out of safe and effective vaccines. He said “there have been reports of vaccines being administered which have not met with widespread acceptance and the World Health Organization (WHO) has a role to play as the global norm and standard setting specialized agency of the UN on public health matters.”

According to CITUR, the objective of the special meeting was to provide a space for a discussion on the key parameters necessary for resuming activity in the tourism sector in the region. The intent of the meeting was to work towards building consensus regarding coordination of actions among countries to engender confidence on the part of travellers, to ensure that the tourism sector in the Americas returns at least to its pre-COVID-19 path.

The output of the working group will be delivered for the consideration of the XXV Inter-American Congress of Ministers and High-Level Authorities of Tourism in October 2021.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; March 29, 2021: The Ministry of Tourism, through its Tourism Linkages Network, will host its highly anticipated annual Speed Networking event on Wednesday, March 31, using a virtual format to connect local suppliers directly with key buyers in the tourism sector.

The event, which was scheduled for its sixth staging on March 12 last year, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the organizers will be facilitating the event this year using a virtual platform, as participants will engage each other via the event’s website:  www.tlnspeednetworking.com. 

“I am pleased that after a one-year pandemic-induced hiatus, this important tourism linkages event is back on the calendar, albeit in a virtual format.  If past successes are anything to go by, this year’s business networking mixer will be both productive and profitable for all participants,” said Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett.

“Of the 110 suppliers who participated in Speed Networking 2019, the 40% that responded to requests for information, reported receiving contracts valued at some $49.5 million,” he added.

The Speed Networking event, facilitates a series of 15 minute pre-scheduled meetings between senior representatives of local supplier companies and senior representatives of tourism entities such as hotels, restaurants and attractions.

“Speed Networking is just one of the many successful linkages initiatives ensuring that a significant amount of the products utilized in the tourism sector are either grown or manufactured right here in Jamaica. In this way, tourism is driving positive change by creating employment and injecting revenue into our communities, while providing new economic opportunities for local businesses,” said the Minister.

The event is led by the Tourism Linkages Network, which is a division of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF); in collaboration with the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA); Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association (JMEA); Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO); Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) and the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC).

“Undertakings, such as Speed Networking provide resilience, hope and optimism for the future of our tourism sector and the businesses that support it, even in the face of current disruptions,” expressed Bartlett.