KINGSTON, Jamaica; May 17, 2019: Tourism Minister Hon. Edmund Bartlett has announced that Jamaica will be hosting an international conference on Tourism Innovation Resilience and Crisis Management next year in Montego Bay.

The Minister made the announcement today during the 64^th meeting of the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) Regional Commission for the Americas (CAM), in Guatemala, where Jamaica was also recently elected as the chair for the biennium 2019-2021.

“We were able to have the support of the entire Commission and of course the Secretary General of the UNWTO [Zurab Pololikashvili], to host the first ever Global Tourism Innovation Resilience and Crisis Management Summit, to be held next year in Montego Bay. Jamaica will also host the 2020 meeting of the Americas,” said the Minister.

He continued by sharing that, “this effort back to back will position Jamaica, not only as the central global reference for innovation, resilience and crisis management but also will be the focus of entire Americas in terms of the deliberations of CAM.”

In 2017 Jamaica hosted the first ever Conference on Jobs and Inclusive Growth: Partnerships for Sustainable Tourism organized by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Government of Jamaica, the World Bank Group and the Inter-American Development Bank, aimed to set a new collaborative framework for tourism moving towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

Earlier this year, Jamaica also hosted the first ever conference on Small and Medium Tourism Enterprises (SMTEs).

“We have been on this mission for a while – and are leading the path for global resilience. We have hosted successful global conferences, and of course, Jamaica provided the only and first ever, Global Centre on Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management. All these are very important Global achievements for tourism in Jamaica and emphasises thought leadership we are giving to the world of tourism,” said the Minister.

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. 

While in Guatemala, the Minister and his delegation will also participate in the International Seminar on Destination Management, which is taking place under the theme ‘New Challenges, New Solutions.’

The Seminar will discuss current challenges and opportunities facing destination management at national and local levels, including the changing role of Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) and the development of smart destinations.

The Minister is accompanied by Miss Kerry Chambers, Senior Director, Policy and Monitoring who will provide technical support. The team will return to the island on May 18, 2019.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; May 17, 2019:  Jamaica was yesterday selected to chair the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) Regional Commission for the Americas (CAM) for the biennium 2019-2021.

“Jamaica graciously accepts the position of Chairman for the Regional Commission of the Americas and thanks the members for the confidence which has been demonstrated. This is the first time in our history that anyone in the Caribbean has been appointed Chairman of this commission,” said the Minister.

The elections for the Chairmanship of CAM were held during the organization’s 64th Meeting in Guatemala.

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, 1st Vice Chair in 2013 and eventually serving as Chairman of the Executive Council for the period 2014-2015. 

In his acceptance speech, the Minister shared that “Jamaica firmly believes that the tourism sector is one that should always be guided by sound policies and has over the years worked assiduously to ensure that this is achieved at both the domestic and international levels.

Jamaica also underscores it commitment to enhancing the capacity of the Americas to plan for and manage a range of global shocks and disruptions that can be destabilizing to the tourism sector.”

He then invited the participation of member countries in the ‘first of its kind’ Global Resilience and Crisis Management Centre which is based at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica.

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. 

While in Guatemala, the Minister and his delegation will also participate in the International Seminar on Destination Management, which is taking place under the theme ‘New Challenges, New Solutions.’

The Seminar will discuss current challenges and opportunities facing destination management at national and local levels, including the changing role of Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) and the development of smart destinations.

The Minister is accompanied by Miss Kerry Chambers, Senior Director, Policy and Monitoring who will provide technical support. The team will return to the island on May 18, 2019.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; May 14, 2019:  Tourism Minister, Hon Edmund Bartlett departs the island today, to attend the 64th Meeting of the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) Regional Commission for the Americas (CAM) in Guatemala City - La Antigua, Guatemala. While there, he is expected to present Jamaica’s candidature for the chairmanship of CAM to the UNWTO for the biennium 2019-2021.

“I am very excited to represent our great nation at the 64^th meeting of the CAM. We are very hopeful that our presentation will be well received and that Jamaica will be able to chair the commission,” said the Minister.

The elections for the Chairmanship of CAM will be held at the 64th Meeting of the UNWTO Regional Commission for the Americas, in Guatemala during the period May 15 – 17, 2019.

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. 

Minister Bartlett’s presence at the CAM is critical, as Jamaica is one of the four English speaking Caribbean Member States of the UNWTO.  The country also occupies one of the five (5) seats allocated to the CAM on the Executive Council of the UNWTO for the period 2018 – 2021. 

While in Guatemala, the Minister and his delegation will also participate in the International Seminar on Destination Management, which is taking place under the theme ‘New Challenges, New Solutions.’

The Seminar will discuss current challenges and opportunities facing destination management at national and local levels, including the changing role of Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) and the development of smart destinations.

Minister Bartlett will also present the programme areas of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre for the year.

“The Centre, which I am pleased to say will be opening later this year, is focusing on four key deliverables at this time. One is the establishment of an academic journal, which will be a compendium of scholarly publications, on various elements of the five segments of disruptions. The editorial board has been established, headed by Professor Lee Miles of Bournemouth University, with the assistance of George Washington University,” said Minister Bartlett.

The other deliverables include: a compendium of best practices/ a blueprint for resilience; a resilience barometer to measure the resilience in countries and provide benchmarks to guide countries; and to establish an academic chair at the University of West Indies for innovation and resilience.

The Minister is accompanied by Miss Kerry Chambers, Senior Director, Policy and Monitoring who will provide technical support. The team will return to the island on May 18, 2019.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; May 13, 2019: Minister of Tourism Hon. Edmund Bartlett has expressed deep regret at the passing of tourism and in-bond trade stalwart, Pishu Chandiram.

“I was very saddened to learn about the passing of Pishu Chandiram. I offer my sincere condolences to the Chandiram family and the staff of Bijoux. We will never forget his kindness and invaluable contributions. I pray that the love of those around you provide comfort and peace during this period of grief,” said Minister Bartlett.

Pishu Chandiram grew up in the family business, K Chandiram Limited in Kingston and started his work life in 1951 after graduating from St. Georges College. With the coming together of in-bond merchants in Montego Bay to construct Shoppes of Rose Hall, in 2007 he joined the group and opened Bijoux’s signature store in that centre. 

Today, Bijoux also operates from the Falmouth Cruise Ship Pier, Island Village in Ocho Rios and in Kingston.

He was also among some 56 awardees of the inaugural Golden Tourism Day Ball, held last December, honouring those who have provided at least 50 years of service in the tourism industry. The gala event was organized by the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) and the Ministry of Tourism, and will become an annual event that honours industry stalwarts.

“I am so happy we had the opportunity to recently honour Mr Chandiram  for his commitment to the tourism industry and in particular the in-bond trade for 67 years. His speech that evening was extremely moving, as it showed his commitment to the industry and the passion he had for nation building. May God give him eternal rest and I am certain his legacy will live on for years to come,” said Minister Bartlett.

FALMOUTH, Trelawny; May 10, 2019: Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett says the artisan village being constructed at Hampden Wharf in Trelawny forms part of the overall inclusive growth strategy to increase earnings among local suppliers.

The US $5.7 million project will have 47 shops along with the establishment of the island’s first artisan village which will accommodate 18 shops along 540 square metres.

Speaking at a recent walk through of the construction, Minister Bartlett highlighted the key role of the facility in creating more earning opportunities for local small and medium businesses.

“The artisan village will connect immediately the market or visitors with our products. When visitors come off the ship, they will be able to go straight to the artisan village and walk away with a piece of authentic Jamaican culture,” said Minister Bartlett.

The project sits on 1.6 hectares of land along the historic Falmouth Port and is being executed by the Port Authority of Jamaica and the Urban Development Company. 

“This artisan village is critical in our reimagining exercise where we are providing opportunities for entrepreneurship at the very base of the population. Tourism will be made more meaningful to the average Jamaican when access is provided for income generating activities and also for creative production.

This is a new and exciting opportunity for various levels of producers in the country that we have not paid enough attention to and not provided arrangements for. The artisan village will also provide a secure, safe and seamless operation for visitors and locals alike,” added Minister Bartlett.

The artisan village is slated to be ready by the end of the year to coincide with the start of the traditional winter tourist season in December.

FALMOUTH, Trelawny; May 9, 2019: The long awaited Tourism Worker’s Pension Bill is one step closer to becoming a reality. This as Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett says the pension bill will be debated on May 21.

The Bill, which was tabled in the House of Representatives on April 30, when passed, will establish a defined pension scheme for tourism workers and self-employed tourism workers to be known as the Tourism Workers Pension Scheme, from which is to be paid retirement benefits in respect of each member and ancillary benefits for beneficiaries.

“After we have completed the debate, the bill will go to the Senate and the Governor General puts his assent on it, everybody who works in the sector, no matter the category or contract period, will have an equal opportunity to become a member of this pension plan.

When our workers become eligible at sixty-five, they will have a minimum pension of two hundred thousand dollars,” said Minister Bartlett.

The new pension bill will start with an endowment of $1 billion from the Ministry of Tourism, which will be paid in installments and will ensure that immediate benefits accrue to qualified pensioners who have met the vested period of five years.

“I am truly pleased that my ministry is one step closer to establishing a bill that will be a game changer for the sector. For so long, our workers have dedicated their lives to improving the sector without any social security at the end of their tenure and this bill will change that,” added Minister Bartlett.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; May 08, 2019: Tourism Minister, Hon Edmund Bartlett says the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre is scheduled to open by the first week in October at a newly refurbished J$27 million facility housed at the University of the West Indies, Mona.

“We have our first conference scheduled for the first week in October of this year, so we would like to bring the Board members from all over the world to come and to see the Centre functional and operational, whilst we are hosting the event,” said Minister Bartlett.

The overall goal of the Centre will be to assess (research/monitor), plan-for, forecast, mitigate, and manage risks related to tourism resilience and crisis management. This will be achieved through five objectives - Research and Development, Advocacy and Communication, Programme/Project Design and Management, as well as Training and Capacity Building.

It will specifically be tasked with creating, producing and generating toolkits, guidelines and policies to assist with preparatory and recovery efforts of tourism stakeholders affected by climatic, pandemic, cyber-crime and cyber-terrorism related disruptions.

Speaking yesterday at a site visit of the facility, the Minister said, “We are grateful to the University for allowing us the use of the space and more so to enable us to make it the kind of facility that we can be happy to welcome the world to participate here in great things and other kinds of cerebral activities. This partnership will give Jamaica, the Caribbean and the world a new opportunity to understand global disruptions.”

The Centre is focusing on four key deliverables that at this time. One is the establishment of an academic journal, which will be a compendium of scholarly publications, on various elements of the five segments of disruptions. The editorial board has been established, headed by Professor Lee Miles of Bournemouth University, with the assistance of George Washington University.

The other deliverables include: a compendium of best practices/ a blueprint for resilience; a resilience barometer to measure the resilience in countries and provide benchmarks to guide countries; and to establish an academic chair at the University of West Indies for innovation and resilience

“UWI will completely refurbish the Centre, which will include a well-appointed conference room, which will enable us to have the video conference technology needed to have virtual meetings to connect a number of board members who operate in different parts of the world.  It will include an office for the chairman and two other offices for deputy directors as well as the executive director, who I am very pleased to share is Prof Lloyd Waller from the UWI..

The Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre will be staffed by local, regional and internationally recognized experts and professionals, in the fields of:  climate management, project management, tourism management, tourism risk management, tourism crisis management, communication management, tourism marketing and branding as well as monitoring and evaluation.

It will also provide research fellowship opportunities for individuals seeking to either expand their knowledge or, gain experience in tourism resilience and crisis management, through postdoctoral research, and internships for undergraduate and graduate students in fields of study related to tourism resilience and crisis management

“We know that the presence of the first ever Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre at the Mona campus is going to begin a whole new process of engagement in the Caribbean, in terms of global tourism activities here. We see this as a big part of the thought leadership and role that the Caribbean is now playing in global tourism.

“We are excited about the future of tourism, the opportunities for more research, the greater appreciation of how to manage disruptions and how to identify and track these disruptions. Then, the most important factor is the recovery process,” said the Minister.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; May 8, 2019: Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says for the Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference and Operations Summit (CHICOS) to be truly relevant to the region it must look beyond investments in accommodation and encourage investment in experiential marketing arrangements that will keep the Caribbean competitive and cutting edge at all times.

Minister Bartlett pointed out that while 15,000 rooms are to be constructed in the next five years, “the essence of tourism for the Caribbean is not about building more rooms, it is about building the capacity of the region to absorb the demand that tourism brings.”

“This capacity resides in our ability to invest more in the experiences that are consumed by the visitor because those experiences tend to be local and these local experiences are owned by the people of the region. It is that ownership of the indigenous experiences that allows for the retention of the dollar in our space,” he noted.

The Tourism Minister was giving the main address at the CHICOS press launch yesterday (May 7) at the Terra Nova Hotel, Kingston.  The conference, considered a must-attend annual event for anyone interested in tourism and hospitality in the Caribbean, will be held from November 14-15 at Secrets Resorts in Montego Bay. 

Pointing out that people travel to fulfil their passions, Minister Bartlett noted that 88% of the world travels for food experiences and 42% of travellers’ total expenditure is on food while 67% of the world travels for shopping experiences.  Health and wellness, sport and entertainment and knowledge were some of the other passion points that motivate people to travel.

“So I want to encourage you in planning the conference to pitch the supply side – what the tourist consumes when they get to the destination. Hotel rooms and accommodation are only the places where visitors sleep. The tourist does not travel to sleep. So sleeping is not the issue; the issue is experiences,” Minister Bartlett said, noting that this was how the Ministry was able to increase the tourism dollar retention from 30% to 40.8% in the last three and a half years.

In his address, State Minister in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agricultural, Hon. Floyd Green said that while the tourism sector continues to show rapid annual growth, there have also been deliberate and prioritized key initiatives to facilitate local and foreign direct investments to drive growth of the Jamaican economy, including the tourism sector. 

One of these initiatives is the National Investment Policy (NIP), which once finalized will act as a comprehensive policy framework to guide the development, administration and monitoring of the investment community. The other initiatives are implementation of the National Business Portal (NBP), an online platform that will house the Business-to-Government (B2G) online interface for all Government entities involved in the investment or business facilitation process as well as a drive to achieve a Top 10 rank in the 2021 Doing Business Report (DBR).

The two-day conference will bring together some 300 regional and international delegates, including governmental representatives, developers, bankers, tourism officials, hotel industry leaders, to explore possibilities for hospitality development in Jamaica and in the wider Caribbean.

Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) is a planning partner for the conference along with AM Resorts, HVS Global Hospitality Services and Apple Leisure Group. Sponsors include the Jamaica Tourist Board and the Tourism Enhancement Fund.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Tuesday, April 30, 2019: Jamaica is being prepared for a boom in hotel rooms over the next five years. It is expected that 12,000 new rooms will be added to existing room stock over that period, brining millions of US dollar investment to the island.

The investment line-up includes US$250 million by H10 Hotels to build 1000 rooms in Trelawny and over US$500 million by Amaterra to build out 5000 rooms across a multifaceted development also in that parish, starting with at least 1,200 hotel rooms for which ground was recently broken.

Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett outlined these investment deals at his Sectoral presentation in Parliament yesterday.

“Jamaica’s tourism is experience record growth in arrivals and earnings and this has attracted more investment in our highly sought after product. What we are seeing is surge in hotel construction and expansion from various chains who see Jamaica as a very viable tourist destination.

 In fact, data from JAMPRO has indicated that Foreign Direct Investments in 2017 generated US$173.11 million or 19.5% of total Foreign Direct Investment,” said Minister Bartlett

The parish of Hanover is set for an investment of US$500 million by Princess Hotels & Resorts on 2000 rooms while Hard Rock will be building 1100 rooms in Montego Bay.

Over in St Ann, the first phase of the Karisma development will see US$200 million invested in building 800 rooms and Moon Palace is to spend USD$160 million in 700 rooms.

Recently, 120 rooms were opened at S Hotel in Montego Bay and later this year the Wyndam Hotel in Kingston will add 250 more rooms with 220 by AC Marriott, also in Kingston.

Outlining these projects, Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett expressed elation that his target of having 5,000 hotel rooms within five years earning US$5 billion, was being exceeded, as he made his presentation in Parliament’s Sectoral Debate today.

Even as the development of hotel rooms continue apace, Minister Bartlett reported to the House that the tourism y was undergoing daily changes requiring appropriate response to remain relevant, fashionable and viable. This, he said, called for innovation and the development of new systems, processes and methodologies to reimagine the sector.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; April 18, 2019: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has accepted an invitation to become an advisor to international travel writers’ group — Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA).

The invitation was made by the group’s Secretary General, Sagur Ahluwalia last Friday, who shared that the Minister’s rich experience will be beneficial to the organization.

In expressing his gratitude, Minister Bartlett said, “It is an honour to have been selected as an advisor to the prestigious PATWA organization. I offer my services to the organization and hope that we are able to share ideas which will have a positive impact on the growth of tourism both regionally and internationally.”

PATWA is a professional organisation of travel writers which was founded in 1998, at the Pacific Area Travel Association (PATA) Conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Its founding philosophy is to support PATA's primary objectives of being a catalyst for responsibly developing the travel and tourism industry in the Asia Pacific region.

Minister Bartlett was this year awarded the Pacific Area Travel Writers Association’s (PATWA) Tourism Minister of the Year for Sustainable Tourism for 2018 in Berlin, Germany

During the awards presentation, Jamaica also received PATWA’s International Travel Award for Destination of the Year.

The awards recognised ­individuals and organisations that have excelled and/or are involved in the promotion of ­tourism from different sectors of the travel trade and service ­providers related directly or indirectly to the industry.