KINGSTON, Jamaica; November 27, 2019: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has announced that preliminary figures from the Jamaica Tourist Board indicate that the island has earned US$3.1 billion to date. The data also indicates that from January to October 2019, Jamaica welcomed 3.4 million visitors to the island.

“We are very proud to announce, that we have hit the US$3.1 billion mark for earnings. We had already broken the 3 million mark for arrivals, so we are on track to surpass our target,” said the Minister. 

He added that,” December is usually a strong month for us [Jamaica] and it begins the high season when the rates are higher. In all probability we will more than likely make our US$3.7 billion projection for this year and with a little luck we might be on the edge for US$4 billion.”

The Minister noted that this puts the island on track to surpass projections of the Tourism Ministry’s 5x5x5 growth strategy, which when proposed in 2016 was targeting increasing visitor arrivals to five million in five years and earning US$5 billion.

The strategy is utilising the five tourism pillars, which includes tapping into new markets, developing new products, promoting investments, building new partnerships and developing human capital.

“The market diversification programme that the Ministry has embarked on over the last three years, based on our 5x5x5 strategy, is going apace. We targeted South America as one of the major new frontiers that we are going to spend some time on and get some good returns.

“Already the returns are coming because we are up 23% in South America which is really strong. We have also been able to get 11 flights a week from COPA coming out of Panama for Kingston and Montego Bay,” said the Minister.

He added that he would be leading a small team over the weekend in Lima, to inaugurate the first direct flight from the destination to Montego Bay, Jamaica, by LATAM Airlines. The flight, which arrives on Monday, will begin a three-rotation programme by LATAM into Montego Bay.

The Minister made these announcements earlier today during a Tourism Working Group (TWG) Meeting hosted at his New Kingston Office.

The TWG was developed to assess various issues in Jamaica’s rapidly growing tourism sector and is headed by Prominent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) partner, Wilfred Baghaloo.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; November 26, 2019:  Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says that the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre has been tasked with developing a tourism crisis communications strategy which will help Caribbean nations ‘build back better’ following a disaster.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of a Tourism Crisis Communications and Disaster Risk Management event yesterday at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, the Minister said, “In responding to the call to build tourism resilience in the Caribbean, I am very proud that the region’s first resilience centre was recently established at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus Jamaica.

“The Centre is going to focus heavily on crisis communication and will develop an official Tourism Crisis Communication Strategy. We believe that we have established ourselves to provide part of the institutional framework and the physical capacity that the region needs to implement and to have actualised some of the outcomes which we seek to have from our efforts,” he added. 

The facility, which is the first of its kind, will assist with preparedness, management and recovery from disruptions and/or crises that impact tourism and threaten sector-dependent economies and livelihoods.

It is focused on deliverables including the establishment of an academic journal on resilience and global disruptions, the drafting of a blueprint for resilience, the creation of a resilience barometer and establishment of an Academic Chair for resilience and innovation.  This is in keeping with the Centre’s mandate to create, produce and generate toolkits, guidelines and policies to guide the recovery process following a disaster.

“Building resilience will require a system-approach based on strengthening collaborations at the national, regional and international levels among tourism policymakers, lawmakers, tourism enterprises, NGOs, tourism workers, education and training institutions and general populations to reinforce institutional capacity to anticipate, coordinate, monitor and evaluate actions and programmes to lower risk factors,” said the Minister. 

While the Centre has been created to assist all tourism nations across the globe, the Minister shared that the Caribbean is particularly vulnerable because it is the most tourism dependent region in the world.

“The most recent economic data indicate that the livelihood of one in every four Caribbean residents is linked to tourism. While travel and tourism contributes to 15.2 % of the region’s GDP in general and over 25% of the GDP of more than half of the countries. In the case of the British Virgin Islands, tourism contributes to 98.5% of GDP. 

These figures underscore the importance of developing strategies for mitigating potential hazards that can destabilize tourism services in the region and cause long-term setback to sustainable growth and development,” he said.

During his presentation, the Minister announced that the Centre’s physical space is about 90% completed but is globally linked.

“Next week we go to Kenya to launch at the Kenyatta University, the first satellite centre for the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre and then we will head to Kathmandu in Nepal on the first of January to launch the second one. There are also a number of others, which will be launched in 2020,” he said.

The two-day event is being hosted by the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with the IDB’s Environment, Rural Development and Disaster Risk Management (RND) Division and their Caribbean Country Department. 

Over 50 local and regional experts in the field of tourism crisis management and communications and disaster risk management have participated in the event, which is taking place under the theme “Reinforcing Crisis Communication as a Critical Element of Caribbean Tourism Resilience and Disaster Risk Management.”

The event also forms part of part of the IDB’s series of consultations with authorities known as Regional Public Dialogue.

MONTEGO BAY, St. James; Thursday November 21, 2019: Two Hundred and fifty (250) hotel workers from Iberostar Montego Bay, attended a pension sensitization session yesterday. The session, spearheaded by Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett, was held as part of an island wide effort to update workers on the next steps for the Tourism Workers Pension scheme.

"Today we had a very strong meeting, the first of a series of sensitization sessions we will undertake for registration for membership of the pension scheme.

We had a full house and we will continue this process island wide to make sure our workers understand the rudiments of the scheme and are prepared for the actual start of registration," said Minister Bartlett.

The two hundred and fifty (250) workers in attendance provided their contact details as an expression of interest and will be notified once full registration begins in January.

"Elements to operationalize the scheme are well underway. The Request for Proposal for the Fund Manager is already out and bids are to come in by next week. The actuary is also being shortlisted and is expected to be appointed in short order," Minister Bartlett added.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Mrs. Jennifer Griffith, encouraged the workers to join the scheme by "preparing yourself as it will endow to your own welfare in the long run."

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 include 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.

MONTEGO Bay, Jamaica; November 21, 2019:  Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says that over the next 3 years, the Tourism Linkages Network intends to invest JM$66 million, to develop Jamaica’s Health and Wellness Tourism product.

Speaking yesterday at the opening ceremony for the inaugural Jamaica Health and Wellness Tourism Conference, the Minister noted that, “Jamaica has a genesis in Health and Wellness as a tourism industry, and we want to drive that and spend more time on building it out. Therefore, we will be spending $22 million annually, over the next three years to assist this process.”

The Network will also be working in partnership with industry stakeholders to help Jamaicans create accredited market ready health and wellness tourism services, based on their knowledge of traditional uses of endemic herbs and plants.

“Jamaica has been famous for all these oils that come from our ‘bush’ or herbs. But for us to be able to leverage all of that cultural heritage so that it can have an enormous impact in the tourism space, will be a huge development,” said the Minister.

The Tourism Minister pointed to studies, which have identified to-date, 334 plants growing in Jamaica that can be used for medicinal purposes, with the unofficial list being 366.

“Of these plants, 193 have been tested for bioactivity and crude extracts from samples of these have identified natural products, which are bioactive.

31 of these plants tested were endemic to Jamaica, which possesses the ideal conditions for cultivation of a wide variety of medicinal herbs, more so that 60% of the world’s major medicinal herbs are currently grown in Jamaica,” he said.

This focus on Health and Wellness forms part of the Ministry of Tourism’s mission to expand tourism beyond the traditional “sand, sea and sun” concept. 

“Research has also shown that health and wellness tourism represents one of the fastest growing travel segments. Therefore, we must find ways to better support the enhancement and development of Jamaica’s health and wellness product,” said Minister Bartlett.

The Health and Wellness Network, headed by acclaimed scientist Dr. Henry Lowe, has been working with partners to develop an effective governance framework to make Jamaica’s wellness industry more internationally competitive.

The Network will also be packaging, promoting and marketing health and wellness assets as an important tourism niche area.

The Jamaica Health and Wellness Conference took place at the Montego Bay Convention Centre from November 20 – 21, 2019. It brought together leading academic scientists, researchers and research scholars to exchange and share their experiences and research results on all aspects of Health and Wellness Tourism.

Discussions focused on global health and wellness tourism data and insights; Wellness travel experiences; Nutraceuticals; Herbaceuticals; Medical tourism; and the Health and Wellness Tourism value chain.

The Tourism Linkages Network, which is a division of the Tourism Enhancement Fund, organized the event with the assistance of key industry partners.  It is the first event of its kind to take place in the island.

MONTEGO BAY, St. James, Thursday November 21, 2019: United States Ambassador to Jamaica, Donald Tapia and Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett along with a raft of officials welcomed the commencement of daily nonstop American Airlines service between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Montego Bay's Sangster International Airport today.  

American Airlines flight # 1349 arrived at 11:07a.m today with passengers and crew being treated to a warm welcome by officials complete with a performance by a Jamaican mento band. 

Ambassador Tapia noted that, “The US and Jamaica have had a long history of diplomatic relations which includes strong airlift arrangements. Today is another representation of the strong ties between both countries which will positively impact Jamaica’s tourism and our flagship carrier."

Meanwhile Bartlett welcomed the new service noting that, "The Northeast region continues to be a strong performer for us as a destination in terms of arrivals. For the summer period, May to September 2019, the US market region recorded a 9.3 percent increase in arrivals with 785,055 visitors compared to the 718,531 visitors during the corresponding period last year. During that period, the Northeast outpaced the overall US market and saw an increase of 13.3 percent during the same period. While stopover arrivals from the US also recorded an increase of 11.1 percent for September 2019, the Northeast again outperformed the national average and grew by 18.1 percent. This reintroduced service augurs well for us as a destination." 

Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Homer Davis, Mr. Donovan White, Director of Tourism, Dr. Rafael Echvarne, CEO, MBJ Airports Limited, Mr. Omar Robinson, President, Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), Mr. Wellesley Joseph, AA Senior Regional Manager, Western Caribbean were among the specially invited guests at the flight arrival briefing. 

Meanwhile, Senior Advisor/Strategist, Delano Seiveright pointed out that the new American Airlines service comes within the frame of increased flights between the United States and Jamaica, "There is daily nonstop Delta Airlines service between Detroit, Michigan and Montego Bay starting December of this year. Jamaica has also been benefitting from several other new flight services including new nonstop flights between Dallas, Texas and Montego Bay by Sun Country Airlines; St Louis and Montego Bay by Southwest airlines and increased frequency of flights into both Kingston and Montego Bay by Jetblue and Delta Airlines." 

He further noted that the increasing buoyancy in the tourism space is attributable to Bartlett's consistent piloting of specific growth inducing efforts.  "The include further cementing and also opening up new source markets, including in Latin America and Europe; more new rooms; more new flights, closer collaboration with cruise operators; first-rate relationships with non-traditional players like Airbnb, among other things that represents the very cornerstone of our aggressive tourism growth strategy." 

American Airlines offers its 200 million annual customers 6,800 daily flights to more than 365 destinations in 61 countries from its hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Washington, D.C.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, Wednesday, November 20, 2019: Jamaica’s drive towards professionalizing its tourism industry is moving towards classifying certified workers for the purpose of improved remuneration.

Through the Jamaica Centre of Tourism Innovation, established by the Ministry of Tourism, 1300 workers have so far been certified as professionals in their respective disciplines. Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett says “the next move is to classify the workers.” This will see them being graded according to classification.

This was outlined by Minister Bartlett at a long service awards for 78 employees of the Round Hill Hotel and Villas last night. He said a lot of emphasis was being put on training as “We are building a professional institution as well as a professional industry.”

Mr. Bartlett said at the point of the workforce being classified and remunerated according to classification “We would now have a brand new labour market arrangement in tourism.” He explained that a new approach will have to be taken when employing certified professionals in the industry with regards to tenure of service. “It would be a brand new ball game to emerge in tourism,” he said, noting that unlike in former years, the industry had moved away from employing on a seasonal basis.

The tourism Minister said the underlying factor behind all that was being done, was to put people at the center because it was the people who made everything happen.

“You were the pioneers; you were the ones who caused Jamaica to be what it is today in terms of our tourism standing in the world and our stature as a major tourism destination,” he told the workers with records of service ranging from 10 to 45 years, at the 66-year-old hotel.

With the development of artificial intelligence (AI) globally and talk that the new tourism is going to be all about automation, Mr. Bartlett opined that while robotics could help to do better and make it easier and more efficient “they cannot replace the people of tourism because tourism is about people.” 

Regarding visitor arrivals, he reiterated that Jamaica was now having year-round tourism and with record numbers in succeeding years, arrivals should hit the 4-million mark this year. He said last month a historical 250,000 tourists came to Jamaica when in former years hotels, would have been closed and workers laid off.

He said tourism was now the number one industry in Jamaica, projecting to earn this year US$3.7 billion, leading in contribution to gross domestic product and “Today is the largest contributor to the economic growth of Jamaica.”

Minister Bartlett shared with the Round Hill workers that “For the first time in our history Jamaica is leading the world in terms of worker safety and security.” The Tourism Workers Pension Plan which is expected to be fully operational in early 2020, is a major contributor to that and “Sets an example to the entire world as to the type of social security and safety net that can be provided for the workers of this industry,” he expressed with pride.

MONTEGO BAY, St. James; Friday November 15, 2019: Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett has announced that Karisma Hotels and Resort is set to break ground in the first quarter of next year, for their 4,800-room multi-resort development project in St. Ann. The project represents a near US$1Billion dollar investment.

The popular luxury chain has 26 properties in Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe under several brands, including El Dorado, Azul, Generations, Sensatori and Nickelodeon.

Minister Bartlett, who made the announcement at the opening day of the Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference and Operations Summit (CHICOS), said, “This has been a long awaited announcement and I am pleased that with all the necessary approvals granted, this mega project will begin to get on the way.”

This will be a series of hotels in Llandovery in St. Ann and we are excited as this addition of rooms will ensure we remain on target to securing 15,000 rooms by 2021; bring more visitors and create more jobs.”

The Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference & Operations Summit (CHICOS) is reputed as the premier hospitality conference in the region. Having just completed its 8th edition, CHICOS brings together nearly 300 regional and international investors and operators, as well as the region’s leading decision makers

Following a digital presentation of the Sugarcane Bay design during the opening day of CHICOS before scores of local and international tourism industry investors, Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Business Development of Karisma Hotels and Resorts, Mr. Ruben Becerra, was firm in the chain’s excitement at finally getting the development underway.

Senior Advisor and Strategist for Tourism, Delano Seiveright noted that in addition to Minister Bartlett,  Prime Minister Andrew Holness; Minister Daryl Vaz; Shovel Ready Programme lead and Chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board, John Lynch; JAMPRO and a raft of other key government stakeholders worked diligently in getting the large and multifaceted project to implementation stage thereby fully opening the door for the creation of thousands of new jobs and lucrative contracts for many local stakeholders.

Karisma Hotels & Resorts plans to operate 35 resorts worldwide by 2020, building on recent growth in the Caribbean and Mexico.

MONTEGO BAY, St. James, Friday November 15, 2019: Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett has reiterated his call on tourism investors to look beyond developing hotels while batting for regional tourism investment.

In a jovial welcome to some 300 investors from across globe gathered for the Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference & Operations Summit (CHICOS) at Secrets Wild Orchid Resort Wednesday night [November 13, 2019], Minister Bartlett made a pitch for them to invest in the heavily tourism dependent Caribbean region, but more so in Jamaica.

He expressed happiness at having them “here in Jamaica for us to talk a little bit about investment but more so to leave some contracts behind. We want to make sure that some new properties are established in the region.”

He said given that the Caribbean is the most tourism dependent region in the world, “This meeting of investors is of tremendous importance to us because what you’re doing is helping to enhance the wellbeing of the Caribbean by forcing investment in the key area that is driving the economy of the region.”

Through such investment, said Minister Bartlett, they would be helping to create jobs, to enable stability but more so, build the capacity of the people of the region to offer more.

He anticipated the two-day summit being spent “looking carefully not just as investment in the traditional sense … but I want us to look beyond rooms because for tourism to become truly inclusive and to enable the development and the enrichment of the people of the region, we have to invest on the supply side.” He reinforced that unless there was a building of the capacity to absorb the demand that tourism brings, “then tourism will be a negative industry in the region.”

Minister Bartlett noted that the region was both a heavy driver of foreign exchange as well as a heavy user and “and unless we create the linkages to stop the leakages of foreign exchange then the region will be poorer for tourism instead of being richer and so investment discussions must be to enrich the Caribbean and to create for us the opportunities to realize our best selves and to earn and achieve prosperity.”

Meanwhile, President of JAMPRO, Diane Edwards said apart from CHICOS there was no other major event in the Caribbean that focusses on investment in tourism. She said the Caribbean has long been an outstanding tourism destination “but we have not focused so much on the business side of things and that would be done over the next two days.”

Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon Audley Shaw also welcomed the CHICOS delegates, noting that there were linkages between his portfolio responsibilities and tourism.

Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and Minister of Tourism for St Lucia, Dominique Fedee and Bahamas Tourism Minister, Dionisio D’Aguilar also joined Minister Bartlett in wooing the tourism investors.

MONTEGO BAY, St. James; November 14, 2019: The architects of Jamaica’s largest integrated tourism real estate development, the Keith and Paula Russell led Amaterra Jamaica Group, have entered into a hotel management operator agreement with award-winning global travel company, Marriott International.

The official signing took place this evening in Montego Bay in the presence of Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, Industry Minister, Audley Shaw, JAMPRO President Diane Edwards and JAMPRO Board Directors Delano Seiveright and Ian Levy.  

Responding to consumers’ growing desire around the world for premium, worry-free vacations, Marriott International announced in August that it is launching an all-inclusive platform to serve this increasingly popular vacation segment. Based in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, Marriott International’s portfolio currently encompasses more than 7,200 properties under 30 leading brands spanning 134 countries and territories.

The company plans to build its new platform by leveraging seven of its established full-service and luxury brands.

In partnering with Amaterra Jamaica Limited, Marriott will further expand its all-inclusive portfolio in popular, leisure destinations worldwide and bring the first Marriott Hotels branded all-inclusive property to Jamaica, providing its 137 million Marriott Bonvoy members with the opportunity to enjoy a new vacation option in the popular destination.

Amaterra’s 800-room flagship development will be located 25 miles east of Montego Bay’s Sangster International Airport on the island’s north coast and is set on two miles of white sand beach. Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2020 and completed in 2022.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett noted that the development forms a key part of the, "Largest expansion of hotel room stock in Jamaica's history representing the most powerful week in investment developments for the tourism industry, with the Marriot's entry being a major step in the right direction." Bartlett also listed an array of initiatives already bearing fruit in deepening linkages, broadening human capital development for tourism workers and spreading the benefits of tourism further afield.

Commenting on the partnership with Marriott International, Amaterra Group Chairman Keith Russell noted, “The Amaterra Group is excited to welcome Marriott International as our Hotel Management Operator. The Marriott brand is internationally renowned and well respected and we couldn’t be happier to have them on board and be one of their first all-inclusive properties globally. This is a great step not only for Amaterra but also the Jamaican tourism industry and we look forward to partnering with Marriott’s other iconic brands as we go forward.” 

Laurent de Kousemaeker, Chief Development Officer for Marriott International in the Caribbean and Latin America, remarked, “We are thrilled to partner with Amaterra on this exciting project.  Jamaica is a key destination for our new All-Inclusive brand extensions. We are pleased to start off with a flagship Marriott All-Inclusive resort project and confident that Amaterra has the vision to bring it to life on the island.”

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica; November 12, 2019:  Minister of Tourism Hon. Edmund Bartlett says internationally acclaimed Bishop TD Jakes is looking at staging his flagship leadership conference in Jamaica next year.

The announcement was made at a special brunch, organized by Jamaica Vacations at Royalton Resort, for Bishop Jakes who docked in Trelawny with over 1800 guests as part of his Faith and Family Caribbean Cruise.

Thomas Dexter Jakes, more popularly known as TD Jakes, is a pastor, author and filmmaker. His Potter's House in Dallas, Texas, is one of America's fastest growing megachurches, with more than 30,000 members,

"As Jamaica continues to diversify its product offerings to suit the passion points of our visitors, developing faith based tourism is high on our priority list. Many people travel for religious reasons.

I am therefore honoured that Bishop TD Jakes has indicated his interest to host his mega conference in Jamaica, which will attract thousands locally and overseas," said Minister Bartlett.

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) estimates that 300 to 330 million people travel for religious purposes every year.

Bishop TD Jakes' church services and evangelistic sermons are broadcast on The Potters Touch, which airs on lightsource.com, the Trinity Broadcast Network, Black Entertainment Television, the Daystar Television Network and the Word Network.

"We are excited about the possibilities of having some events in Jamaica that I think would be of interest not only to Jamaicans.

We are interested in leadership development, where business and faith can collaborate to create a more wholesome atmosphere," said Bishop TD Jakes.

Minister Bartlett added that, "Jamaica will be the ideal location for this mega conference given the island's Christian and religious culture.”