KINGSTON, Jamaica; February 20, 2020: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says United Nations World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) Secretary General, Zurab Pololikashvili will be the key speaker at the first ever UNWTO Global Summit on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Resilience Management, which is being hosted in Montego Bay in May.

The visit is Pololikashvili’s first to the region, since being appointed in 2017, following the recommendation of the 105th UNWTO Executive Council.

“We look forward to welcoming him to the Caribbean and having him here for the conference, which will bring together global thought leaders in the areas of entrepreneurship, innovation and resilience,” said Minister Bartlett.

The UNWTO Global Summit on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Resilience Management will be held on May 28 and coincides with the 65th Meeting of the Regional Commission for the Americas (CAM) on May 29. Both key events will be held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.

The Regional Commissions meet once a year to allow Member States to maintain ‎contact with each other and with the UNWTO Secretariat between sessions of the bi-annual General ‎Assembly. 

Jamaica currently chairs the United Nations World Tourism Organisation's (UNWTO) Regional Commission for the Americas (CAM) for the biennium 2019-2021.

Since 1975, Jamaica has served as vice-president of the General Assembly on five occasions over the period 1987 – 2011, and has been re-elected twice as a member of the Executive Council, serving as second vice-chair in 2012, first vice chair in 2013 and eventually serving as Chairman of the Executive Council for the period 2014-2015.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; February 12, 2020: Tourism Minister Hon. Edmund Bartlett will visit Texas on Thursday, to meet with Bishop TD Jakes at his church, the Potters House, to further explore building out Jamaica’s faith-based product.

This follows on a meeting in Jamaica last November, where the renowned religious leader expressed interest in staging a leadership summit in Jamaica, which could bring 10,000 visitors to the island.

The preliminary meeting with the Bishop took place in Falmouth, when Jakes’ Faith and Family Cruise on the MS Nieuw Amsterdam docked with 1,800 other passengers.

The discussions led to an agreement for Minister Bartlett to visit the Potter’s House to further develop opportunities for collaboration.

Bishop TD Jakes’ church services and evangelistic sermons are broadcasted on The Potters Touch, which airs on lightsource.com, the Trinity Broadcasting Network, Black Entertainment Television, the Daystar Television Network and The Word Network. The broadcasts are reportedly watched by 3.3 million viewers every week.

The Potter's House is a 30,000-member nondenominational church led by Bishop T. D. Jakes, twice featured on the cover of Time magazine as America's Best Preacher and as one of America’s 25 Most Influential Evangelicals.

Prior to visiting Minister Jakes, Minister Bartlett will attend a meeting in Miami with the Florida- Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) on February 12, to discuss new initiatives as well as to provide an update on the cruise sector in Jamaica.

He will also meet with the President and CEO of Royal Caribbean International (RCL) on February 14, 2020.

The Executive Director of the Jamaica Vacations Ltd (JAMVAC) is accompanying the Minister during this official visit. They are expected to return to the island on February 14, 2020.

Montego Bay, St. James; February 7, 2020: Tourism Minister, Hon Edmund Bartlett is upbeat that workers in the sector will be able to fully register for the pension scheme starting in March 2020.

The Tourism Workers Pension Scheme is designed to cover all workers ages 18-59 years in the tourism sector, whether permanent, contract or self-employed. This includes hotel workers, as well as persons employed in related industries such as craft vendors, tour operators, red cap porters, contract carriage operators and workers at attractions.

Speaking at a sensitization session at the Grand Palladium Jamaica Resort & Spa yesterday, Minister Bartlett said, “This landmark social legislation will change the social security arrangements for all workers in the sector who will have a guaranteed pension when they retire.

I am pleased that based on our timelines to get everything in place, by March, workers will be able to register for the scheme and begin to contribute to their own retirement.”

The Scheme is now in effect and is managed by a Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees is currently in the process of finalizing the negotiations for an Investment Manager and a Fund Administrator to manage the operations of the Scheme. The Scheme is also tax exempt and regulated by the Financial Services Commission.

The Ministry is in the process of developing regulations for the Act, which also provides for an augmented pension. Augmented pension beneficiaries will be persons who joined the Scheme at 59 years old and would not have saved enough for a pension. With the Ministry’s injection of $1 Billion to augment the fund, these persons will qualify for a minimum pension.

“We felt the need to find a solution for those workers who would have contributed for only 5 years but deserve the guarantee of a pension at retirement. So once the Investment Manager has been appointed, J$250 million out of the J$1 billion from the Ministry’s injection will be disbursed to seed the fund to ensure these workers have a pension,” added Minister Bartlett.

As part of the Ministry’s awareness efforts, Tourism Workers Pension Sensitization Sessions will continue.  This week, sessions were held at the Grand Palladium Jamaica Resort & Spa, Sangster International Airport, Secrets Montego Bay and Excellence Oyster Bay. The next sensitization session for February will be in Portland on the 27^th.

Since the start of these sensitization sessions in 2018, 2500 workers have attended, many of whom have expressed interest in the Scheme.

FALMOUTH, Trelawny; February 6, 2020:  Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says Jamaica’s first Artisan Village is taking shape and the next phase will be its theming. The project is being constructed at the Hampden Wharf in Falmouth.

The Artisan Village will be a “one-stop shop” for authentic Jamaican food, music, heritage and craft.  It was designed to showcase the best of the island while enhancing interaction between visitors and locals.

Speaking at yesterday’s final tour of the facilities, Minister Bartlett said, “This Artisan Village is a long awaited, much anticipated game-changer, which was developed to respond to the need for a greater insertion of our small and medium entrepreneurs in the tourism value chain.

It was also designed to ensure that there is a unique experience for the visitor, borne from the authentic creativity of local artisans.”

The Artisan Village, which is financed by the Tourism Enhancement Fund, forms part of the wider Hampden Wharf Development project. This will be the first of a series of Artisan Villages, which will be located in resort areas across the island.

The Minister also highlighted, “I am pleased that the Artisan Village, here in Falmouth, is in its final stage of execution and we are about to officially receive the keys from the Port Authority of Jamaica.

Visitors will experience unique pieces from the creativity of our people with valuable cultural assets. Additionally, through this arrangement, more Jamaicans will benefit from our very lucrative tourism industry.”

The Hampden Wharf Development project is a collaborative effort between the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) and the Urban Development Corporation and is being implemented to transform the town of Falmouth. 

The project features an extension of the Port connecting the locals with visitors; paved surfaces with mixed textures and defined paths; landscaped areas; storyboards where applicable; adaptive reuse of historic buildings; and a rich mix of retail and local eateries, craft and history.

“What is truly unique about the Artisan Village is that the eighteen Artisans who will be here will be executing on the spot against designs brought to them by visitors or the ones they want to create,” added Minister Bartlett.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; February 03, 2020:  Tourism Minister Hon. Edmund Bartlett says the appointed date on which the Tourism Workers’ Pension Act came into operation was January 31, 2020, with registration for the scheme to begin soon.

Speaking at a press conference at the Ministry of Tourism’s New Kingston offices earlier today, the Tourism Minister said, “This gazetted date sets the stage for the Board of Trustees to conclude the arrangements with the fund manager and the fund administrator.

The framework for the development of regulations is now underway and I am hoping to take this to Parliament tomorrow, but if not, certainly within the first few sittings within the new parliamentary year. ”

The long-awaited Tourism Workers’ Pensions scheme is designed to cover all workers ages 18-59 years in the tourism sector, whether permanent, contract or self-employed.  This includes hotel workers as well as persons employed in related industries, such as craft vendors, tour operators, red cap porters, contract carriage operators and workers at attractions.

The Tourism Workers’ Pension Scheme will receive $1 billion in funding from the Ministry of Tourism, to augment the pool of funds. The Augmented Pension Beneficiaries will be persons who joined the Scheme at 59 years old. With the Ministry’s injection of funds, these persons will qualify for a minimum pension.

He added that, “The regulations will allow for 180 days period for the Augmented Pensions Beneficiaries. After we have designated that, those people will have the opportunity to register. Once they have registered, they will be on and the programme begins with earnest with the ordinary members.”

The pension scheme will see persons contributing an initial 3% of their income for the first three years and then 5% after that - this contribution is then matched by the employer. However, employees have the option of giving up to 15% of their salaries over time.

As part of the Ministry’s awareness efforts, Tourism Workers Pension Sensitizations Sessions will continue this week for The Grand Palladium Jamaica Resort & Spa, Sangster International Airport, Secrets Montego Bay and Excellence Oyster Bay and Portland on February 27.

The distribution of the fund will be done in tranches, with the first disbursement taking place within this financial year (before the end of March 2020). A formal presentation will be made at a later date.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; January 28, 2020: Minister Bartlett says the recent threats of global pandemics and the frequent occurrences of natural disasters heightened the need for a Global Tourism Resilience Fund.

The Fund, which the Minister says requires global support, would be the first funding facility managed in the region, which is specifically designed to assist vulnerable tourism-dependent destinations across the globe.

The call comes against the backdrop of the brief and discredited coronavirus scare in the island today, as well as the occurrence of 7.7 earthquake in the Caribbean Sea between Jamaica and Cuba earlier today.  

“The call therefore by the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, through its chairman, is very apropos. It reinforces the need for the big partners of the world, private and public sector,  to join together to create this Global Fund, to enable many of the countries that are at the heart of the tourism market to be able to build resilience.”

He added that the fund would also help to “create the necessary infrastructure that is required to not only recognise these disruptions but to also be able to determine and track them. But most importantly, equip vulnerable countries to be able to respond, manage, and to then recover and grow after.”

The Fund would be designed to help to build capacity to respond to disruptive threats to the economic sustainability of tourism-dependent countries. It would also target those destinations that are deemed as experiencing high climate vulnerability but have insufficient financial capacity to prepare for and recover quickly from disruptions. 

“Tourism is a huge part of the economies for us in the Caribbean and we are very vulnerable to climatic and pandemic events. Therefore, we have to take a proactive approach in regards to driving capacity to respond quickly. 

The Fund would therefore help us to create a resource base for information development and dissemination. It would also help us to create capacity to innovate, build better and respond in Nano time to these disruptions,” said Minister Bartlett.

The Minister also shared that while focus would be placed on the Caribbean, which is the most tourism dependent region in the world, the Fund would be useful to destinations across the globe.

“Destinations all over the world are affected by these disruptions. There are three times that I can recall global tourism not growing – the Sars virus in 2003, 9-11 terrorist attack and the economic meltdown of 2008. Now we are faced with other issues which I am sure the Fund will have a positive impact on if it receives more support,” said Minister Bartlett.

The Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre located at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus, would oversee the management of the Global Tourism Resilience Fund.

The Centre is aimed at assessing, forecasting, mitigating and managing risks related to tourism resilience, caused by various disruptive factors. These disruptions may include climate change and natural disasters, cybercrime, cybersecurity, pandemics, terrorism, war, population and the changing funding models.

It was first announced during the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Global Conference on Sustainable Tourism in St. James in November 2017, and is the first of its kind.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; January 26, 2020: Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett extended his heartfelt congratulations to Jamaican teen sensation Koffee on winning the Grammy Award in the Best Reggae Album category, earlier yesterday in Los Angeles. Koffee becomes the first woman and the youngest artist to win the award in this category, for her album Rapture.

“We offer heartfelt congratulations to Koffee for this tremendous achievement,” said Minister Bartlett. “She is following in the footsteps of other reggae greats who have played a pivotal role in taking our irresistible rhythm to the world. We are a land of extraordinary talent and Koffee is yet another example,” said Minister Bartlett.

This accomplishment by Koffee, born Mikayla Simpson, is significant as it serves as a precursor to the start to February’s Reggae Month and ahead of Women’s Month in March.

Koffee won from a field of fellow Jamaicans Julian Marley for “As I Am”, Sly & Robbie & Roots Radics for “The Final Battle,” and “More Work To Be Done” by Third World, which was produced by Damian Marley as well as English band Steel Pulse for “Mass Manipulation.”

MADRID, Spain; January 24, 2020: Tourism Minister, Hon Edmund Bartlett has announced that Jamaica and the Republic of Panama have signed a multi-destination arrangement, as part of efforts to strengthen tourism relations between both countries.

The agreement was signed today during FITUR, the largest International Tourism Trade Fair for inbound and outbound Ibero-American markets, currently underway in Spain.

Jamaica has previously signed similar agreements with Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Mexico, to advance regional integration by fostering and harmonising legislation on air connectivity, visa facilitation, product development, marketing and human capital development.

‘The signing of the agreement today with Panama brings us to five countries in the North-Western Caribbean that have now developed an arrangement for convergence of their marketing and airlift arrangements.

This is a huge development for tourism’s growth and expansion in the Caribbean area, as it now brings five of the largest markets in the region together,” said Minister Bartlett.

The convergence of the five countries is expected to create a market of over 60 million potential visitors and will be promoted as a package, through the respective tourist boards to large tour operators, airlines and cruise-lines.

“This agreement creates a mega-market that will now be able to attract the big airlines, the large tour operators but more importantly we will be able to entice the new emerging markets of the far distances of Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe.

These distant markets will be able to come into the Caribbean area, enjoy many of the experiences at a packed deal, and can seamlessly through the areas,” said the Minister.

The multi-destination tourism is a strategy the Tourism Ministry has been using to increase the product offerings of the respective destinations but more so to enable better air connectivity between markets particularly, for long haul destinations.

With this multi destination arrangement, Panama will become a hub for long haul flights and Emirates and Air China are among the two targeted carriers. It also covers how Jamaica can better leverage the Jamaican Diaspora, which has contributed to the cultural enrichment of Panama.

“A feature of this agreement will be to look at rationalizing infrastructure arrangements, particularly where visitor facilitation is concerned.

Therefore, we will be looking at a single visa regime, for example one that will allow us to have domestic space within the five countries that are involved, for tourism purposes only,” said the Minister.

“We could also look at the possibility of a single airspace, for airlines that are coming into servicing these areas will not have to pay five or six different fees in relation to five or six different airspaces, but a single fee that will cover all. The prospects of this is a game-changer for tourism development in the North-Western Caribbean,” he added.

The final aspect of this agreement will be the strengthening of resilience building in the region, which will include the establishment of a satellite Global Resilience and Crisis Management Centre at an agreed university in Panama.

Jamaica has had diplomatic relations with Panama since 1966. Currently, COPA Airlines, which is the flag carrier of Panama, operates eleven (11) flights weekly into Jamaica.

Madrid, Spain; January 23, 2020: Spanish Hotel interests this morning, while noting the importance of quality, good pricing and consistency, committed to expand their purchasing and support for local products and services as Jamaica’s tourism industry continues on a strong growth path that will see the build out of thousands of new hotel rooms over the coming months and years.

They also indicated strongly a willingness to work with the Government of Jamaica in collaborating with local businesses on the establishment of efficient and well run farming operations to better supply the growing industry.

The commitment came from owners and Senior Executives of the largest Hotels and resorts in Jamaica under the Inverotel umbrella, an association representing Spanish Hoteliers and Operators, who this morning met with Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett and other tourism officials in Spain’s capital city, Madrid.

Representatives included the owners’ of three of the largest hotels in the Jamaica: Grupo Pinero owners of Bahia Principe, Mrs. Encarna Pinero, who also Chairs Inverotel; Iberostar’s, Mr. Miguel Fluxa and Grand Palladium’s, Abel Matutes.

The commitment came as Minister Bartlett detailed major findings of a recent demand study illustrating Jamaica’s tourism sector’s total value of demand for agricultural products amounted to J$39.6 billion and a whopping J$352 billion for manufactured products.

The Tourism Demand Study was designed to identify the existing/potential demand in the tourism sector for goods and services across local sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and entertainment. The study is done through the Ministry’s Tourism Linkages Council.

Spanish Hotel Investors have pumped approximately US$1.7 billion or J$238 billion into the Jamaican economy in recent years and represent 25 per cent of Hotel rooms.

A further US$750 million or J$105 Billion in investments representing an additional 3,000 rooms is already in motion with the continued development of the new Spanish owned H10 resort in Trelawny and the planned development of the island’s largest resort by Princess Resorts in Hanover.

Owner of Iberostar, Miguel Fluxa, commended Bartlett’s leadership noting that it “is the very base of Jamaica’s outstanding tourism product over the years.” 

Among other matters discussed at the high-level engagement are work permits, beach protection, workers training, the Government's new pension plan and enhanced coordination and integration with civil society. 

Minister Bartlett is currently in Spain participating in FITUR, the largest International Tourism Trade Fair for inbound and outbound Ibero-American markets.

Madrid, Spain; January 23, 2020: Spanish Hotel interests this morning gave their support for the government’s ground-breaking Tourism Workers Pension Scheme whilst however noting the importance of it being carefully managed in a closed door meeting with them in Spain today.

Spanish Hotel Tycoon, Abel Matutes, founder of Palladium Hotel Group, owners of Grand Palladium Resort in Hanover, Jamaica and former Foreign Affairs Minister of Spain, stressed the importance of ensuring that the Pension plan is managed at the highest standards to ensure that workers ultimately benefit.

Matutes noted that several pension schemes in the Western world have run into serious trouble due to poor management among other matters. Nonetheless, he expressed full support for the new arrangement as a critical “social security” tool for workers of the industry.

Bartlett responded assuring Matutes of the varying systems in place to ensure that the Pension scheme is operated at the very highest standards of governance.

The Tourism Workers Pension Scheme is managed by a Board of Trustees, which is currently in the process of procuring an Investment Manager and an Administrator to manage investments and the operations of the Scheme. The Scheme is also Tax exempt and regulated by the Financial Services Commission.

“As soon as the Fund Manager has been appointed, J$250 million will be disbursed to seed the fund from the Tourism Enhancement Fund so that if workers who have contributed for only 5 years and reach their retirement age of 65 they will get a guaranteed minimum pension,” Bartlett noted following the closed door meeting.  

The Ministry of Tourism has been carrying out pension sensitization sessions across the island to update tourism workers on the next steps of the pension scheme.

The Tourism Workers' Pension Scheme is designed to cover all workers ages 18-59 year in the tourism sector, whether permanent, contract or self-employed.

This includes hotel workers, as well as persons employed in related industries such as craft vendors, tour operators, red cap porters, contract carriage operators and workers at attractions.

Founders, Owners and Senior Executives of the largest Hotels and resorts in Jamaica under the Inverotel umbrella, an association representing Spanish Hoteliers and Operators, met with Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, JTB Head Donovan White and Senior Advisor/Strategist, Delano Seiveright Spain’s capital city, Madrid today.

Representatives included the owners’ of three of the largest hotels in the Jamaica: Grupo Pinero owners of Bahia Principe, Ms. Encarna Pinero, who also Chairs Inverotel; Iberostar’s, Mr. Miguel Fluxa and Grand Palladium’s, Abel Matutes.

Spanish Hotel Investors have pumped approximately US$1.7 billion or J$238 billion into the Jamaican economy in recent years and represent 25 per cent of hotel rooms.

A further US$750 million or J$105 Billion in investments representing an additional 3,000 rooms is already in motion with the continued development of the new Spanish owned H10 resort in Trelawny and the planned development of the island’s largest resort by Princess Resorts in Hanover.

Minister Bartlett is currently in Spain participating in FITUR, the largest International Tourism Trade Fair for inbound and outbound Ibero-American markets.