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.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; December 31, 2019: Tourism Minister Hon. Edmund Bartlett has extended sympathy to the owners of the historic Richmond Hill Inn in Montego Bay, following a fire that destroyed a section of the property last night.

“Richmond Hill has been an integral part of Montego Bay’s history for over 200 years. I am sure the damage to the property is a devastating setback for Stephanie Chin and her family, who have owned the property for decades,” said Minister Bartlett.

He added that, “The Ministry of Tourism stands with you and offers sincere sympathy during this very difficult time. I know that many of the items you lost are irreplaceable but remain hopeful that we will see Richmond Hill restored to its former glory.”

The Richmond Hill Inn has been a staple in the tourism industry over the years. It has hosted a number of public figures such as Richard Nixon, John Rollins, Roger Moore, Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, Rosie Greer, Paul Newman and Eddy Murphy.

The property is also known for housing a number of art pieces by acclaimed Jamaican artist Barrington Watson, as well as, antique furniture dating back to the 1800's.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; December 27, 2019: Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett has announced that the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) will, on January 1 2020, conclude discussions for a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a Satellite Centre in Nepal.

Minister Bartlett will leave the island on Sunday, December 29, 2019, for Nepal to conclude those discussions on the establishment of the Centre. The announcement for the Satellite Centre began during the Global Resilience Summit in London last month, when Minister of Tourism for Nepal, His Excellency Yogesh Bhattarai, invited Minister Bartlett to Nepal.

Minister Bartlett’s visit is significant as it will coincide with the country’s campaign ‘Return of Nepal’ that marks their recovery from a powerful ‘rainstorm’ that swept across two districts of southern Nepal killing at least 28 and injuring more than 1,100 people last year.

“My visit is timely as it speaks to the very essence of what the GTRCMC is all about – recovering from disruptions. What we are also seeing is an international confluence as it relates to the GTRCMC and this speaks to the need for resilience building in the tourism industry.

Like other Satellite Centres, this one in Nepal will focus on regional issues and will share information in Nano time with the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre. They will then function as think tanks to develop possible solutions,” said Minister Bartlett.

Most recently, a Satellite Centre was established in Kenya and the GTRCMC will be establishing Satellite Centres in Seychelles, South Africa, Nigeria and Morocco to expand its reach within the continent.

Each Minister has the responsibility of identifying a university in their respective countries, to collaborate with the University of the West Indies and by extension the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre.

“We are in an age where tourism is still susceptible to many global disruptions that span climatic events like hurricanes, terrorism and cybercrime. Many countries are heavily dependent on tourism, especially the Caribbean, and as such we must safeguard its future by building resilience. This is why the GTRCMC and Satellite Centres are critical to the industry at this time,” added Minister Bartlett.

The Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, 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; December 23, 2019: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has announced that Miss World finalists from Nigeria and India have accepted the Government’s invitation to visit Jamaica, following their enthusiastic display of support for the crowning of Jamaica’s Toni-Ann Singh, as Miss World 2019.

The Minister made the announcement during a lunch, hosted for Singh and her family on Saturday, at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, in Kingston.

“I am very pleased to share that Miss Nigeria, Nyekachi Douglas and Miss India, Suman Rao, will come to Jamaica….the time we are looking at is the first week of March, 2020. We are very excited to welcome them to the island and show them our warm Jamaican hospitality,” said the Minister.

The Minister first announced that the Government of Jamaica would be extending invitations to the contestants during his remarks at the second annual Golden Tourism Day Awards, held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre on December 15, 2019.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Minister noted that the Government would make the necessary arrangements to host the beauty contestants, and will ensure that they “have the best vacation that they could hope for, in the best destination that they could ever think of, and to also make sure that Jamaica remains top of mind.”

The Golden Tourism Day Awards was organized by the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) and the Ministry of Tourism. The gala event recognizes Tourism workers who have given 50 years or more of service to the industry.

Some 34 awardees who have served the industry as raft captains, craft traders, ground transportation operators, hoteliers, in-bond store operators, tour operators and Red Cap Porters were lauded for their remarkable contribution.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; December 18, 2019: Tourism Minister, Hon Edmund Bartlett says that the projected expansion projects in Kingston, as well as those currently underway are a signal of the City’s potential to be the primary hub of the Northern Caribbean.

The Minister made this announcement yesterday, during the inaugural Caribbean Airlines flight from Kingston to Grand Cayman.

“With the changes that have taken place in Kingston and the expansion we are anticipating, we are hoping that Kingston will become a hub for the Northern Caribbean so that connectivity – between Jamaica and Havana, Santiago, Cancun – can be achieved from here. I think Caribbean Airlines is well positioned to be that carrier that makes those connections, utilizing Kingston as a hub,” said the Minister.

This is a sentiment shared by the airline's CEO, Garvin Medera, who said, "Caribbean Airlines has a clear vision to connect the region, which is a major element in strengthening our Caribbean identity."

The Minister shared that currently the region is growing at 6.1%, but lack of connectivity within the Caribbean has hindered tourism arrivals to grow to double digits.    

“Today’s flight to Grand Cayman is expanding the airline’s range of connectivity and is helping to sunder those dividing elements that prevent us from connecting. The 300 additional seats to Jamaica, with two weekly rotations, add a significant amount to the growing number of seats that are coming on stream,” said the Minister.

Improved air connectivity is one of the Minister’s pillars in achieving growth in the industry. Under this growth strategy, his Ministry is aggressively implementing strategies to attract five million visitors by 2021, generate US$5 billion in tourism earnings, increase the total direct jobs to 125,000, and add 15,000 new hotel rooms.

The Ministry has also been pursuing new and emerging markets whilst maintaining traditional ones through airlift arrangements.

According to data from the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), the island has increased seats out of the USA by 79,522, Canada by 21,418, the Caribbean by 15,280, and Latin America by 8,280. However, Jamaica is down from UK/Europe but overall the country is looking at an additional 98,676 seats for the season.

As it relates to the Caribbean, over the last three years, Jamaica has seen increased year on year growth. For 2019, Jamaica has so far seen a 6.1 percent increase in visitors from the region.

This new flight from Caribbean Airlines will now make an impressive 22 destinations for Caribbean Airlines, which already has over 600 weekly flights in the Caribbean and North and South America. It will include two departures from either destination per week – Tuesdays and Saturdays – between December 17 and March 28.

NEGRIL, Westmoreland; Wednesday December 18, 2019: Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett says J$250 Million will be used to ensure the start of the highly anticipated Tourism Workers’ Pension Scheme next month. This forms part of the government’s effort to seed the fund to meet the deadline of a January 2020 start date for the pension scheme.

Minister Bartlett, who made the announcement at a pension sensitization session with hotel workers at Royalton Negril today, said “We are well on our way to implementing the pension scheme and currently the Board of Trustees is in the process of procuring a Fund Manager and Fund Administrator.

As soon as the Fund Manager has been appointed, 250 million will be disbursed to seed the fund so that if workers have contributed for only 5years and reach their retirement age of 65 they will get a guaranteed minimum pension.”

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. Over 400 workers attended the session at the Royalton Hotel and approximately 100 workers attended the session at the RIU Hotel, both in Negril.

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 other tourism subsectors such as craft vendors, tour operators, red cap porters, contract carriage operators and workers at attractions.

In highlighting the significance of the pension scheme, Minister Bartlett added that, “This landmark Tourism Workers’ Pension Scheme is a carefully strategized arrangement that forms part of the Ministry’s overall human capital development strategy in the sector. The pension scheme is the final cap in that strategy to ensure a social security safety net for our workers at retirement.”

Registration for Tourism Workers’ Pension Scheme is scheduled to begin in January 2020.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica; December 16, 2019:  Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says that Jamaica will be extending invitations to Miss World finalists Miss Nigeria, Nyekachi Douglas and Miss India, Suman Rao, following Jamaica’s Toni-Ann Singh’s historic win on Saturday.

Speaking at the second annual Golden Tourism Day Awards, held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre yesterday, the Tourism Minister said that, “This weekend was a very powerful one for us in Jamaica… Our very own Toni-Ann Singh was named the beauty of the world.”

He added that, in celebration of this, “ the Director of Tourism, the Chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board and I will collaborate with Minister Grange to invite not just Miss Nigeria who showed love and friendship but also Miss India, because we think it will be wonderful to have them in Jamaica.”

The Minister noted that the Government would make the necessary arrangements to host the beauty contestants, and will ensure that they “have the best vacation that they could hope for, in the best destination that they could ever think of, and to also make sure that Jamaica remains top of mind.”

Miss Nigeria, Nyekachi Douglas rose to popularity, because of her reaction to Singh’s win in London.  The reaction, which has since gone viral, had millions of social media users sharing that the genuine show of joy for Miss Jamaica’s win, is an example of how friends should support each other.

In an Instagram video after the competition, she described Singh as "amazing" and a big supporter of her fellow contestants.

Singh is the 69th Miss World and 4th Jamaican to take the title.  Miss World France, Ophely Mezino was the runner up, and Miss World India, Suman Rao placed third at the event that saw contestants from 111 countries competing in London for the crown.

“We are changing our tagline to ‘Jamaica the heartbeat of the world’, and in no other way was it expressed than in London when Toni-Ann became Mss World, becoming the 4^th Jamaican to be so accorded,” he said.

The Minister made the announcement during second Golden Tourism Day Awards, which was organized by the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) and the Ministry of Tourism. The gala event recognises Tourism workers who have given 50 years or more of service to the industry.

Some 34 awardees who have served the industry as raft captains, craft traders, ground transportation operators, hoteliers, in-bond store operators, tour operators and Red Cap Porters were lauded for their remarkable contribution.

“We love you, we respect you and we honour you tonight. This process of sighting good work – identifying [awardees] first of all, then positioning and celebrating you is critical. Tonight says to you that a grateful nation of people honour your work, respects your efforts and wish you well,” said Bartlett to the awardees.