KINGSTON, Jamaica; January 17, 2020: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says data from a recent demand study shows the need for J$391.6 Billion in goods from the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. The break out shows a demand for goods of J$352 Billion for manufacturing and J$39.6 Billion for agriculture.

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.

Minister Bartlett, who officially handed over the demand study to President of the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association (JMEA) Richard Pandohie, said, “The purpose of the study is to help guide our decisions as it relates to the consumption patterns of our visitors and these figures show a very high demand for products in agriculture and manufacturing.

 We want our local tourism suppliers to provide these inputs in agriculture and manufacturing so that we reduce the leakage of our earnings.”

Mr. Pandohie, who accepted the demand study, also highlighted the need to have more inputs supplied locally to reduce the leakage within tourism.

Through the Tourism Linkages Network, the Ministry of Tourism has been strengthening linkages with other sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and entertainment to build the capacity of local suppliers to meet the growing demands within tourism.

“What these figures indicate is that there are many opportunities for increased linkages with local suppliers to facilitate import substitution in producing various items. The aim of the Ministry of Tourism is to foster more purchasing of local goods and services, which will reduce the imports and help to plug the leakages from importation,” said Minister Bartlett.

The study found specifically that the significant increase in hotel constructions across the island has influenced the demand for manufactured products needed to furnish these establishments.

The study also highlighted that mainly local producers were satisfying the demand for goods and services in the tourism sector, but that importation also constituted a reasonable proportion of expenditure on certain items.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; January 16, 2020: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has announced that the Jamaica Rum Festival (JRF) will be packaged and marketed as a tourism product and sold to potential visitors to the island.

Speaking at the launch of the festival at Devon House last evening, Minister Bartlett said, “We want the rum festival to be a product, not just an event. So we want to, through the Jamaica Tourist Board, package it with rooms and with seats and bring the visitors to Jamaica to consume this critical asset that is from the heart and soul of the Jamaican people.”

The JRF covers an exploration of Jamaican rum; how it is made; the varying types and how best to enjoy it.

Globally, millions of people travel annually to attend various types of festivals, which have become a niche that destinations can capitalize on to boost arrivals and earnings.  Last year, the JRF attracted 6000 patrons.

Minister Bartlett said that, “In marketing the festival as a product, I am building out the capacity to retain the earnings from the tourism industry. In 2016, we were retaining only 30cents on the dollar.

Today because of the networks and the various new and opinionated attractions that we are putting together in Jamaica plus the increase in rooms and airlift, we now retain 40.8cents on the dollar, which is an increase of 30 percent, the highest in the Caribbean.”

The Ministry’s Tourism Linkages Network continues to strengthen the links between tourism and other economic sectors to increase consumption of local goods and services, diversify the tourism product and retain more of the country’s foreign exchange earnings.

“We are committed to creating a tourism that is reimagined that provides the most authentic Jamaican experiences for our visitors. In doing that, we will allow our small suppliers to earn more from the value chain of the sector by providing their creativity and passion,’ added the Minister.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; January 15, 2020: Tourism Minister Hon. Edmund Bartlett says plans are in high gear for Jamaica to host the first ever United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Summit on Innovation and Resilience Management, in Montego Bay this May.

“Jamaica has been selected as the venue for the first ever Global Summit on Innovation and Resilience Management. This is very important for us as a destination because the discussions on resilience have become the new reality within tourism and by extension the global space. It is resilience that will give us the capacity to respond to the global disruptions that are coming daily,” said Minister Bartlett.

The two-day UNWTO Global Summit on Innovation and Resilience Management begins on May 28 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre and coincides with the 65th Meeting of the Regional Commission for the Americas (CAM), of which Jamaica is currently the Chair.  

“This conference is going to look very seriously at models [of resilience building] and get best practices from different countries on how ideas have been coming together to build capacity and help us in the Caribbean in terms of dealing with these seismic events that are now part of our reality,” he said.

He added that, “The other key part of it is innovation, which is at the heart of understanding how to add value to our process.  Adding value is what we are about…So start-ups will be a big part of this conference. We are going to be looking at examples of start-ups with the Caribbean.”

The Tourism Minister also stated that the conference is going to focus on how to create new and exciting experiences for the industry with key experts from across the globe sharing how they think the future of tourism is going to be constructed

“We have to get a better understanding overall about how the future of tourism is going to be constructed and this conference will seek to look into that. Change creates a level of uncertainty unless you have knowledge and you are able to be guided by analytics. This is what we are about… We are building the capacity to be able to project better, to respond faster and to be nimble and adaptive,” said Minister Bartlett. 

KINGSTON, Jamaica; January 13, 2020: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says he will be putting measures in place to declare Port Royal as a prescribed area, under the Jamaica Tourist Board Act. This move should ensure a safe and hassle-free environment for tourists, as it would allow police additional remit to handle harassers.

This announcement follows a meeting with Government officials, representatives from the Port Authority of Jamaica, Urban Development Corporation, the security forces and other stakeholders regarding the development of Port Royal, at Jamaica House in St Andrew, on January 08, 2020.

During the discussions, the Prime Minister declared that preventative measures would be implemented to tackle potential harassment and security issues at Port Royal, where a cruise port terminal is being developed.

In anticipation for the first cruise vessel, which is expected to arrive at the end of the month, the Prime Minister, also said, “Port Royal will not be a free-for-all. It is not going to be a place for hustlers and thugs and people to come to harass, it has to be a place of order.

It will also be a place where not just visitors from overseas will have the opportunity to enjoy the experience, but we want Jamaicans to enjoy the experience as well.”

According to the Act, The Tourism Minister ‘may make regulations to create measures and methods to be adopted in improving the basis of the tourist industry in Jamaica and in controlling and eliminating undesirable factors that may affect it.’

The designation of prescribed areas also regulates the activities and conduct of persons. This specifically controls the: ‘soliciting for any prescribed purpose in those areas; or who, having no fixed place of business in those areas or whose business activities are not carried out pursuant to any licence granted for that purpose under the provisions of any other enactment, offer goods or services to members of the public in those areas.’

It can also affect the licensing of such categories of persons employed in tourist accommodation or tourism enterprises as may be prescribed.

“We are very excited to welcome visitors to a brand new cruise port and will ensure that they have a safe, seamless and secure experience.

By declaring Port Royal as a prescribed area, we will be better able to make this investment sustainable and ensure that the sector continues to thrive,” said Minister Bartlett.

OCHO RIOS, St. Ann; January 10, 2020: Tourism Minister Hon. Edmund Bartlett says Ocho Rios has emerged as the number one port in the country, having contributed forty percent of total visitor arrivals in 2019.

Preliminary data from the Jamaica Tourist Board indicate that Jamaica welcomed approximately 4.3million visitors last year. Of that number, cruise passengers accounted for over 1.5million.

Speaking at the inaugural visit of the Norwegian Bliss today in Ocho Rios, Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett said, “Ocho Rios has had a phenomenal growth trend for last year, welcoming 197 calls, which represented a passenger count of over 600 thousand. This is a 40% contribution to our overall visitor arrivals and has made Ocho Rios the number port for calls in the island.”

The additional call of the Norwegian bliss will add over 11,000 visitors to Jamaica’s cruise numbers following its two calls this year.

Jamaica remains one of the most sought after cruise destinations with diverse tourism products and experiences as well as some of the biggest and best ports. Last year, Jamaica was awarded top Caribbean Cruise Destination of the year for 2018 from Caribbean Journal, the world’s largest website covering Caribbean travel and trade news.

“Cruise Tourism forms an integral part in the Ministry of Tourism’s overall growth strategy and I am pleased about the numbers coming out of Ocho Rios. There’s more good news as the projection for Ocho Rios for the first quarter of 2020 is 36 calls that will amount to over 86 thousand visitors” said Minister Bartlett.

Executive Director of Jamaica Vacations, the agency of the Ministry of Tourism responsible for cruise tourism, Joy Roberts, also indicated that more port experiences are being built out to attract more passenger engagement and spend. This is being done through entertainment and food and will be done through multi-port destinations for cruise ships to give each port its own unique theme so passengers will leave satisfied with a variety of experiences.

“The most recent imitative is the offer of a cup of Jamaica Blue Mountain (JBM) Coffee on arrival at all ports which began with the inaugural visit of the Norwegian Bliss. This gesture will help increase brand awareness and the sale of locally grown premium coffee to international markets,” Minister Bartlett added.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; January 09, 2020: Tourism Minister Hon. Edmund Bartlett says passengers onboard the Norwegian Bliss, which is set to dock in Ocho Rios tomorrow, will all receive a cup of Jamaica Blue Mountain (JBM) Coffee on arrival.

The gesture marks the start of a new initiative, by the Tourism Ministry and key stakeholders, to have JBM offered to all cruise passengers disembarking at Jamaica’s main ports. It is being organized to help increase brand awareness and sale of locally grown premium coffee to international markets.

“Tomorrow when the Norwegian Bliss arrives in Ocho Rios we will begin the programme I announced last year of having coffee tastings at the cruise ports, when cruise ships arrive in Jamaica.  So 4,000 cruisers and 1,700 crew members will arrive tomorrow and they will all get a cup of our Jamaican Coffee,” said Minister

The Minister made this announcement earlier today, during the launch of the third staging of the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival, at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston.

He shared that the new marketing initiative for coffee would also include having the product featured at all international events that the Ministry of Tourism and the Jamaica Tourist Board will participate in this year.

“We are going to be inserting the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee in the marketing arrangements for upcoming tradeshows. In fact, we actually used it recently at our display in Japan.

Now we are going to Berlin in March, for ITB, and we are going to establish there, the start of our coffee tasting arrangements, which will now be a feature of all our tourism exhibitions at tradeshows across the world,” said Minister Bartlett.

As the Ministry seeks to target new markets to visit the island, the Tourism Minister added that the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival would be a key part of their promotion for March arrivals.

“This festival is not just an event, it is a product. After two years, we have been able to learn a lot, hone our skills in putting this arrangement together and to package it. Now we are at a position where we can create this product, which can be inserted in the market and be tied into marketing packages that we will be selling to our visitors,” he said.

The Minister said that initiatives like the coffee festival builds sustainability in the tourism sector by integrating events, businesses and communities in a way that creates jobs, builds local economies and spreads tourism’s benefits beyond the traditional resort areas.

“In celebrating coffee, we are also seeing it as a huge driver of economic wellbeing. Not only is it a commodity for export and for trading in general, not only is it a means of income for a large number of small and large farmers, but it is also a catalyst that enables a number of  other economic activities to happen and a wider range of employment for a number of other people,” he said.

The Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival is a three-day signature event led by the Tourism Linkages Network and other key partners.  It includes a Farmers Trade Day, Marketplace Day and the Jamaica Blue Mountain Culinary Trail Brunch.

Last year’s Marketplace Day was a sold-out event with over 1200 patrons.  It included some 50 Small and Medium Tourism Enterprises (SMTEs) – such as purveyors of coffee-infused spa products like soaps, body scrubs and butters as well as producers of delicious coffee-infused foods from chicken to sweet treats.

This year’s event will take place from March 20 – 22, in Newcastle, St. Andrew.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; January 08, 2020: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says the Agricultural Sector must be transformed to better meet the consumption requirements of visitors to the island.

“The production patterns of agriculture in the region has to be lifted to a higher level where we are the suppliers of what is required for consumption. We must train and develop human capacity to improve the production and consumption patterns within our space,” said Minister Bartlett.

He said his Ministry is working very closely with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, to increase consumption of locally grown food in the sector and to assist farmers who supply the sector.

This drive has been led by the Tourism Linkages Network, in collaboration with the Agriculture Ministry, and has resulted in the creation of several programmes and initiatives geared towards building the capacity of farmers to supply on this demand and ultimately earn more from the tourism pie.

The Minister made these remarks at the USAID’s Farmer-to-Farmer Conference 2020, hosted at the Liguanea Club on January 06, 2020.

“We commend initiatives like the USAID Farmer-to-Farmer Programme that focus on human capital development, of some of our most critical members of society – our farmers. At the Ministry of Tourism, we too have been focusing on development of industry workers by providing training and certification for not just our workers but key suppliers in the sector,” said Minister Bartlett.

He stressed that gastronomy is one of the leading reasons for travel. Therefore, in order for Jamaica to retain more earnings from this niche, it is critical for us to supply more of the goods locally.

Data from the Tourism Linkages Network’s 2019 demand study, which looks at the demands or inputs required for the sector, also revealed that the total value of demand for agricultural products in the tourism amounted to J$39.6 billion.

“The relationship between travel tourism and gastronomy is at the heart of the reasons for people to move from destination to destination. Eighty-eight percent of the people in the world travel for food experiences and 42% of the expenditures of the visitor is on food.

Agriculture and farmers become a central part of travel and tourism. Since we are about fulfilling the passions of people and food is the number one passion, then the farmer is the number one partner with tourism,” said the Minister.

The Minister congratulated the participants of the (F2F) program and reminded them of the importance to share best practices to further strengthen regional growth in Agriculture and Tourism industries.

“I want to congratulate you for having this dialogue, and to implore you to be as innovative as you can. What you are about to do is not about food safety in the broadest sense, but it is about economics and resilience that you are building in the regions that you represent.

The capacity we are trying to build, to generate more of what the visitors need within the area, is the insurance that we are providing for higher level of retention of the dollars that are earned,” he said.

Since 1991, Partners’ Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) programme has been transforming lives in over 30 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia by connecting specialized volunteers from the United States with farmers, cooperatives, agribusinesses, extension services, government agencies and other institutions.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; January 07, 2020:  Jamaica has been featured as one of 24 destinations to visit in 2020 by American media-company Blooomberg LP.

The list was composed by a network of in-the-know editors and global correspondents and displays what they describe as “inspiring spots that will be particularly enticing this coming year.”

“Jamaica is proud to be included in Bloomberg’s ‘Where to Go in 2020’ list. We have a lot to offer our guests and are humbled to have been considered among so many other exotic destinations,” said Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett.

The listed destinations, which include Antigua, Montenegro, Northern Italy and Ionian Islands, describe key events happening in the destinations and their general appeal. It also includes interactive graphs, which show week-by-week hotel pricing data from Google and Intel from trusted travel experts. 

The site predicts that there will be a growth in arrivals to the island in April, following the premier of No Time to Die, Daniel Craig’s last James Bond movie, which was filmed partially in Port Antonio. They recommend that Bond fans visit key areas affiliated with the franchise such as Geejam Hotel and Half Moon Hotel, which is set to open a new 57-room resort called Eclipse, in March 2020.

Visitors, who may not have an interest in the Bond franchise, were also encouraged to visit for great weather in May, November and December. 

April was also listed as a great month to visit to participate in Carnival-related activities.

Bloomberg L.P. is a privately held financial, software, data, and media company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.

KATHMANDU, Nepal; January 3, 2019: Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett says April 2020 is the date earmarked to officially open the Satellite Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre in Nepal. The announcement follows Minister Bartlett’s visit to Nepal to conclude discussions for a Memorandum of Understanding to establish the Centre.

“The establishment of this new Satellite Centre in Nepal is another exciting step towards global resilience building through research and real time information sharing. The Centre will be located at the Tribhuvan University, which houses approximately 200,000 students who will contribute greatly to the knowledge base and development of best practices for the region,” said Minister Bartlett.

The aim of establishing global Satellite Tourism Resilience Centres is to create a network of think tanks that will develop solutions to global disruptions that impact the tourism industry. These disruptions include climatic events such as hurricanes and earthquakes, terrorism and cybercrime, among others.

Minister Bartlett added that, “I am also pleased that the GTRCM has been receiving calls from other countries such as China, Cambodia, Myanmar and India to establish more of these Satellite Centres and we will now begin discussions for the framework to open these Centres. The calls for these Centres to be established, speaks to a global need to ensure the viability of the tourism industry through resilience building.”

The establishment of the Satellite Centre in Nepal follows the recent establishment of a Satellite Centre in Kenya. Additionally, the GTRCM will also be establishing Satellite Centres in Seychelles, South Africa, Nigeria, and Morocco to expand its reach within the continent.

In highlighting the significance of this new Centre, Executive Director of the GTRCM, Professor Lloyd Waller noted that, “The presence of a GTRCM in Nepal extends the reach and scope of the Centre to be able to examine and address tourism resilience issues in Asia, while at the same time enabling Centres in other regions of the world to access expertise from Asia.”

The GTRCM, which was first announced in 2017, operates in a global context that is characterized by not only new challenges, but also new opportunities for tourism in an effort to improve the tourism product as well as to ensure the sustainability of tourism globally.

The ultimate purpose of the Centre is to assist destination preparedness, management and recovery from disruptions and/or crises that impact tourism and threaten economies and livelihoods globally.

The Minister is expected to return from Nepal on Sunday January 5, 2020.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; January 02, 2020: American news-channel CNN, has named Jamaica as one of the 20 best places to visit in 2020. The island is one of two Caribbean destinations to make the list.

Tourism Minister Hon. Edmund Bartlett has expressed delight at being included, sharing that, “Jamaica is very honoured to be listed alongside Dominica and other countries, as one of the best places to visit in 2020.”

CNN Travel is a very widely respected and read platform across the globe. I am certain that this accolade will help to influence persons to make Jamaica their destination of choice this year and we look forward to welcoming them to our shores,” he added.

The news site notes that Jamaica has a lot to offer – such as natural wonders, culture and entertainment – particularly in 2020.

Fans of the James Bond franchise were urged to stay at Goldeneye, the resort in which Ian Fleming wrote 14 of the franchises novels.

Rockhouse hotel in Negril was also listed as a must-see for its natural beauty, philanthropic endeavours and celebrity-appeal – as its early guests included Marley, Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones.

They also encouraged readers to visit the Bob Marley Museum, in honour of the singer’s 75th birthday in February. 

“Marley’s Jamaica is a living, beating heart, overflowing with love, pain, history and cultural significance,” said CNN Travel writer, Brekke Fletcher.

CNN Travel editors compile the list annually, based on a number of factors. They encourage their readers to travel to the various destinations, to participate in key events as well as to “expand knowledge of the planet and celebrate the beauty of human accomplishment and natural wonders all over the world.”

The list includes destinations such as Japan, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Estonia, Wyoming, and Kyrgyzstan. The full list can be viewed at www.cnn.com.