KINGSTON, Jamaica; January 21, 2019: Tourism Minister, Hon Edmund Bartlett has committed to the construction of a Reggae Museum to the tune of J$25Million. The move forms part of the Ministry’s effort to build out the reggae product to create more authentic Jamaican experiences for visitors and locals alike. The project will be done in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport.

Funding for the project will be done through Tourism Enhancement Fund which has also committed, through the Tourism Linkages Network, J$15Million towards the marketing of Reggae month events.

Minister Bartlett, in making the announcement at the official launch of Reggae month yesterday, said “We have to invest in the product called reggae and build out the capacity of reggae to drive 24/7experiences in different locations across Jamaica. Through the Linkages Network and collaboration with my colleague Minister, Hon Olivia Grange, we will use this funding to build out the product of reggae across the island.”

The Reggae Museum will seek to curate artifacts and other objects specific to the history of Jamaica’s reggae music. This will allow for the preservation of reggae artifacts for the education of the public.

Minister Bartlett said, “A reggae museum will not only benefit our people and history of this globally recognized art form, but will pull many people from across the world to our shores to learn more about our infectious culture.”

Reggae Month 2019 is being organized as a joint project between the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport and Ministry of Tourism through the Tourism Linkages Network, a division of the Tourism Enhancement Fund.

“The building out of a consistent reggae product will also include the development of reggae trails.

These trails will be developed based on the locations from which the real icons of reggae emerged such as Trench Town, Nine Miles, Belmont and Somerton in St. James where the most highly recognized living Jamaican artiste, musician and actor Jimmy Cliff lives,” added Minister Bartlett.

The coordination of reggae month activities is also being driven by the Tourism Linkages Network’s Sports and Entertainment Network (SEN). The mandate of SEN is to develop the Jamaican tourism product while fostering growth and job creation through the development and/or enhancement of targeted sports and entertainment tourism niche products such as Reggae Month.

Reggae Month will run from February 1 – 28, 2019.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; January 16, 2019: Tourism Minister, Hon Edmund Bartlett says the 37^th Caribbean Travel Marketplace (CTM), being hosted in Jamaica later this month, will welcome 140 buyers — the largest number in the event’s history since 2012.

Speaking at a media briefing earlier today at the Ministry of Tourism’s New Kingston office, the Minister said, “We have to date 140 buyers from companies seeking to purchase rooms, which is very important to us.”

The Caribbean Travel Marketplace is the Caribbean’s largest marketing event, starting January 29 through to January 31, in Montego Bay.

“We are excited about these three days of active trading with the larger number of buyers meeting with our suppliers here in the Caribbean and hopefully to drive the Caribbean tourism activities to another level. The projections for growth in the Caribbean is 2.5% with Jamaica and the Dominican Republic leading in terms of expected volume of growth and the CTM is the center which enable this growth to happen,” said Minister Bartlett.  

The event is produced by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourist Association (CHTA) and brings together hotel and destination representatives; wholesalers and tour operators; online travel agencies; Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) planners; and members of the media for several days of business meetings, including a busy programme of thousands of pre-scheduled appointments. For this year’s staging, the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association will be integral to coordinating the event with the CHTA.

The Minister noted that the event will also have “major representation from China and India which represents the two largest potential travel countries.”

“The truth is that today China is the largest outbound destination in the world. The impact of Chinese tourism to the Caribbean could be a huge game changer. India and China together will represent more than 40% of global tourism by 2030.

We are expecting about 20 tour operators and media from China and about 6 from India. This is critical as it will bring in a new dynamic into the marketplace as it is a new demographic,” said Minister Bartlett.

Hundreds of regional and local tourism stakeholders are expected to converge at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, to engage with industry peers and promote travel to the region. This will include delegates from at least 24 Caribbean destinations.

“We are hoping that a number of contracts will be signed and that the world will see the best Jamaica has to offer,” said the Minister.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; January 15, 2019:  Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says the Ministry’s Tourism Linkages Network intends to leverage public private partnerships to build out a framework to stimulate entrepreneurship in the coffee sector and related industries.

“Coffee has the potential to become a commodity that can change communities through linkages with tourism. This is particularly important as our coffee farmers continue to experience challenges due to shrinking international markets and low prices,” the Tourism Minister said.

He was giving the main address at the press launch for the second annual Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival today (January 15) at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston. This year’s festival will take place March 1-3 at Newcastle in St. Andrew.

Describing tourism and coffee as two of Jamaica’s most important economic industries, Minister Bartlett said the build out will be done through the Tourism Linkages’ five networks: Gastronomy; Health and Wellness; Shopping; Knowledge; and Sports and Entertainment.

He advocated using 100% of the coffee berry to do so, instead of the 20% now used in coffee production.  It will include the development of an entire cottage industry around the supply of spa products to a growing health and wellness sector as well as building out the retail market for coffee by-products.

“The coffee festival is one such offering.  Yet, while Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is our value proposition, we must work together to build a sustainable coffee sector with a multiplier effect that creates more jobs, businesses and revenue for rural communities and beyond,” Minister Bartlett told the large gathering of tourism and coffee stakeholders.

In his address, Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Audley Shaw, said we must use the opportunity of events like the festival “to not just talk about a revival but put in clear, specific, unambiguous strategies and plans to revive the Blue Mountain coffee industry in Jamaica.”

Declaring we must market real Jamaican coffee, Minister Shaw said, “We want to see more of our farmers increase their productivity and produce more of all Jamaican coffee varieties, including high mountain coffee, which can then be blended with the Blue Mountain coffee, so that we can have a totally Jamaican coffee brand.  Jamaican coffee must be the gold standard. We do not want the Jamaican brand to be watered down or bastardised.”

Meanwhile, Member of Parliament for East Rural St. Andrew, the Most Hon. Juliet Holness, promised her unwavering support to the festival, which is providing additional income and building entrepreneurship in the Blue Mountain Coffee communities.

Acting Director General of the Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Authority (JACRA), Gusland McCook, lauded the festival for providing another avenue to create awareness around Jamaican coffee in general and Blue Mountain coffee in particular, which will help to attract not only consumers but also investors.

Last year’s inaugural Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival saw some 1000 patrons, 37 booth holders and 64 farmers participating in a three-day event.

The Festival, which showcases Jamaica’s rich tradition of coffee production in the Blue Mountain region, is an initiative of the Tourism Linkages Network, a division of the Tourism Enhancement Fund.

It features Blue Mountain coffee and coffee related products, food stalls, entertainment, cultural presentations, tastings and demonstrations, and workshops. A key component of the festival is the Farmers Trade Day, which includes presentations and networking opportunities with industry stakeholders.

The festival also pairs with the Jamaica Blue Mountain Culinary Trail, which this year features 14 stops at bars, restaurants and attractions, including Belcour Lodge, Café Blue, Crystal Edge Restaurant, Strawberry Hill, Blue Ridge, Holywell National Park, Old Tavern Coffee Estate, Mavis Bank Coffee Factory, among others in the Blue Mountains.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; January 09, 2019:  Tourism Minister, Hon Edmund Bartlett says Jamaica saw an 8.6% increase in tourism revenue in 2018.

He told a news conference, held at the Ministry’s New Kingston office yesterday that, the preliminary figures from the Jamaica Tourist Board on the performance of the industry, has shown a new record for the industry, in terms of arrivals and spend.

“At the end of December 2018 Jamaica had 4.31 million visitors, which represents the second year in a row that the county has had over 4.3 million visitors in a single year. But, the earnings is the area of greatest performance for us in 2018 because we had an 8.6 % in earnings from 3 billion in 2017 to 3.3 billion in 2018,” said the Minister.

He went on to state that,” this means that Jamaica had 40 years of tourism earnings to make its first billion, which came about in 1995. The second billion was earned in 2010 and the third came in 2017. This year we are 300 million in pursuance of the next billion. This means that we are in line with the projections made to earn 5 billion dollars from tourism within the period that we’ve indicated.”

The Minister also highlighted that the increase in earnings has had a great impact on the local economy, primarily to the small and medium tourism enterprises.

“Tourism is growing at a phenomenal rate but because the retention of the dollar is hovering at 30% we can say that there is more than US $1 billion in circulation across Jamaica coming directly from tourism. The impact of this is seen in the growth of the small and medium enterprises, who are more involved in the industry than ever before. The dollar is being retained because more and more of our people are supplying against the demands of the industry,” he said.

The Minister also used the opportunity to provide an update on the security audit of all hotels and attractions being led by the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) as part of efforts to ramp up the island's destination-assurance programme.

International Security Expert Dr Peter Tarlow as well as Global Rescue – a leading global provider of medical evacuation, repatriation, and security-extraction services for individuals, enterprises, and governments – have joined the audit to collaborate with the Ministry’s destination assurance managers to construct a new architecture for tourism ethics and visitor safety.

“I have had the opportunity to meet with people in all aspects of tourism over the past two days. It seems to me that this is a country that is working hard to become not only a safe place but is struggling to become a world model that can be adapted to other parts of the world,” said Dr Tarlow.

He also shared that, “what impresses me about Jamaica is the openness to look at problems, analyse those problems and then be willing – instead of putting them under the table – to say let’s bring them into the sunlight, examine them and solve them.” 

The Tourism Working Group, which was recently established by Minister Bartlett to conduct a comprehensive review of issues in the sector, and is headed by PriceWaterhouseCoopers Senior Partner, Wilfred Baghaloo, will also be a part of the process. 

The security audit, which is to be completed by the first half of 2019, will identify gaps and ensure that the destination remains safe, secure and seamless for visitors and locals alike.

Security arrangements are part of the licensing requirements for many sector operators and significant weakness or breaches will result in tough sanctions. So far, 16 properties have been audited.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; January 04, 2018:  Tourism Minister, Hon Edmund Bartlett has announced that highly regarded tourism security expert, Dr Peter Tarlow, will arrive on the island on Sunday to join the team carrying out the intensive security audit of the tourism sector.

The audit of all hotels and attractions is being led by the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCO), as part of efforts to ramp up the island’s destination assurance programme.

“I look forward to welcoming Dr Tarlow to the island, as his visit comes at a crucial point in the development of our product. We must safeguard the key aspects of destination assurance such as security, safety and seamlessness of our tourism product.

Dr Tarlow and the team will help us take a step in the right direction and provide insight in legislation that may be implemented to make the industry safer, as well as help us develop a new programme on how to better relate and interact with international guests,” said the Minister.

Dr Tarlow, as well as Global Rescue — a leading global provider of medical evacuation, repatriation and security extraction services for individuals, enterprises and governments — will join the audit and partner with Jamaica's tourism Destination Assurance Managers to construct a new architecture for tourism ethics and visitor safety.

The Tourism Working Group, which was recently established by Minister Bartlett to conduct a comprehensive review of issues in the sector, and is headed by PriceWaterhouseCoopers Senior Partner, Wilfred Baghaloo, will also be a part of the process. 

The security audit, which is to be completed by the first half of 2019, will identify gaps and ensure that the destination remains safe, secure and seamless for visitors and locals alike.

Security arrangements are part of the licensing requirements for many sector operators and significant weakness or breaches will result in tough sanctions. So far, over eight properties have been audited.

During his visit, Dr Tarlow will: conduct preliminary data assessment and conclusion; provide an overview of survey instrumentation and application methodologies and develop key performance indicators. He will also conduct a Tourism Safety and Security Seminar for relevant stakeholders.

Dr Tarlow is a scholar in the area of tourism safety, a consultant for the tourism industry, and the founder of Tourism & More Inc. He is the author of ‘Event Risk Management and Safety’ and teaches 'tourism safety' to police chiefs around the world.

He has also worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the United Nations World Tourism Organization among other recognized institutions.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; December 27, 2018:  Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett says Jamaica saw record arrivals and earnings for the period December 21-24, 2018. Preliminary airport arrivals was 34,081, an increase of 12.8% over the corresponding period in 2017. The estimated gross earnings stands at USD51, 240,784 which represents a 17.1% increase over last year.

“This is excellent news and shows the strength of Jamaica’s tourism product. We expected a record season and the numbers highlight this fact.

Arrivals from our source markets have been growing apace and we have been strategically engaging new and emerging markets to add to this growth,” said Minister Bartlett.

Thousands of additional airline seats were negotiated for the 2018-2019 ‘High Season’ in December, out of North America, Canada, the UK and Northern Europe.

In addition, several new flights made their landing at the Sangster International Airport out of Eastern Europe, including Eurowings, Pegas Fly and Nordwind, as well as Canadian airlines Westjet, Sunwing and Swoop. While Copa Airlines increased to daily its service between Panama City, its main hub, and Montego Bay.
Latam Airlines Group also announced Nonstop Direct Flights from Peru to Montego Bay beginning July 2019 and Frontier Airlines, one of the newest routes out of the United States, made its inaugural flight on November 17, 2018.

“Airlift remains a key strategy in achieving our growth targets of 5million visitors and US5billion by 2021 and the numbers show that we are well on our way to meeting these targets,

By the end of the year it is expected that the country will welcome well over 4.3million visitors and earn US3.3Billion,” added Minister Bartlett. 

KINGSTON, Jamaica; December 18, 2018: Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett is reiterating the country's commitment to ensuring a safe, secure and seamless destination to all visitors who come to the country.

In that context, Minister Bartlett says, “A full scale review is being done of all the protocols and ethical arrangements within the industry in keeping with the changes that are taking place in the demographics as well as the new markets that are emerging. Jamaica must stand at the cusp of these changes and must be leaders in ensuring that tourism safety and security is enhanced at all times. 

As a result we have brought technical advice and support from international experts in tourism security like Peter Tarlow and Global Rescue and they will coalesce with our local tourism destination assurance experts to craft a new architecture for tourism ethics and visitor safety in Jamaica.”

As part of efforts to ramp up its destination assurance programme, the Ministry through the Tourism Product Development Company, has started an island wide security audit of all hotels and attractions. Joining this audit is highly regarded international expert, Dr. Peter Tarlow who will provide technical support. The report from this review is to be ready by the first quarter of 2019.

Subsequently, Minister Bartlett has also indicated that more stringent rules and legislation will be put in place to ensure the safety, security and seamlessness of the island’s tourism product.

“The confidence of any destination rests on ensuring the safety, security and seamlessness of both visitors and locals alike. We are making not just a statement but a commitment that where we find breaches or infractions in the sector, we will as a destination respond and act strongly.

Breaches of security of any kind are aberrations that the destination will not tolerate and will treat with accordingly. We do not condone these acts and are working assiduously to correct these breaches through stricter regulations which will include withdrawal of licenses in some instances,” Minister Bartlett added.

MONTEGO BAY, St. James; December 17, 2018:   As part of preparations for what is expected to be a record winter tourist season, Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett yesterday unveiled twenty (20) new automated kiosks. The automated kiosks, which were donated by the Passport Immigration and Citizens Agency, were unveiled at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay.

Speaking at the unveiling, Minister Bartlett said the initiative would ensure better facilitation and seamlessness for the hundreds of thousands of visitors expected for the period and beyond.

Minister Bartlett said, "This is the start of the traditional high season which we expect to be a record breaking winter season. One of the reasons for this record growth comes from the fact that we have 120thousand new seats from destinations around the world, 89thousand of which are from our main source market, the U.S.

The United States provides 65% of Jamaica's stopover arrivals and with cruise arrivals the total is approximately 80% of arrivals to the island.

"So if we grow phenomenally from our main source market, growth will be secured so this winter season will grow and we are expecting growth in the region of 5% and we are excited about that," Minister Bartlett added.

Speaking to air connectivity, which is the second leg of growth that will boost the winter tourist season, Minister Bartlett said, “Air connectivity is a major strategy to increase arrivals and we have been aggressively pursuing new markets and gateways and today we have received the latest flight out of Canada, the inaugural Swoop airlines out of Hamilton which saw a full flight of 196 passengers. This will help us to grow our Canadian market and add to the many other air connectivity arrangements that have come on stream recently.”

Jamaica has acquired new airlift, working with the airlines to ensure an adequate number of seats to meet the growing demand arising from our efforts to increase arrivals out of our traditional visitor markets of the United States, Canada and England while expanding into new markets like Latin America and Eastern Europe. 

Thousands of additional airline seats were negotiated for the 2018-2019 ‘High Season’ in December, out of North America, Canada, the UK and Northern Europe.
In addition, several new flights made their landing at the Sangster International Airport out of Eastern Europe, including Eurowings, Pegas Fly and Nordwind, as well as Canadian airlines Westjet and Sunwing. While Copa Airlines increased to daily its service between Panama City, its main hub, and Montego Bay.
 
Latam Airlines Group also announced Nonstop Direct Flights from Peru to Montego Bay beginning July 2019 and Frontier Airlines, one of the newest routes out of the United States, made its inaugural flight on November 17, 2018.

Preliminary data shows that the country will welcome well over 4.3million visitors and earn US3.3Billion by the end of the year.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, Friday, December 14, 2018: In an effort to induce more investment in shopping and get more tourism dollars from that attraction, a new regulation will be introduced by the Ministry of Tourism next year.

Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett announced yesterday that, “Cabinet is to consider the presentation shortly and we are sure that in the first quarter of next year the new Shopping Regulation and Regime will be in place.”

He was speaking yesterday at the inaugural staging of ‘Style Jamaica’, a fashion event created by the Ministry of Tourism’s Linkages Network to promote the exciting creations of Jamaican designers.  The event was staged inside the Shoppes of Rose Hall mall.

With Jamaica having 4.3 million tourists last year, cruise accounted for only US$37 million of expenditure for shopping, representing three percent of the total value of the experience. According to Minister Bartlett, “Something is radically wrong with the shopping and we have to fix it.” He backed that up with the fact that “for stopover arrivals we just had about US$36 million which was about one percent of the US$3 billion that we earned from tourism last year.”

He disclosed that the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Finance had been examining this closely “and a comprehensive review has just been completed by both ministries and new architecture for the shopping sector in Jamaica is to emerge.”

The new regime will also look at broadening the schedule of dutiable items “to allow for textile and leather and other such mediums to be used to provide the necessary articles and artefacts that are required for shopping.”

Minister Bartlett said the new Shopping Regulation and Regime “will allow us to invite the big brands to come into Jamaica. But it will also allow for us to broaden the scope of creativity within our own space so that we can produce more exciting items that will be saleable to the tourism market.”

The Tourism Minister is of the view that achieving this will allow for more people to be employed in the subsector with the revenue generated giving the country a decisive boost.

He said the ‘Style Jamaica’ activity represented part of a wider process of sensitization “to the quality of the creative outputs and the cultural assets which we have to merchandise in Jamaica.”

While setting the framework for better merchandising, Minister Bartlett also underscored the importance of attracting more investment in shopping with bigger, more exciting malls with branded stores and items in department stores.

“This is how shopping is built. It is built first of all on an integrity in the destination,” he said, adding that he wanted to give credit to the duty free shopping segment “that has built that integrity over the years so that people can rely on good quality and also to get value for their money.”

KINGSTON, Jamaica; December 14, 2018:  The Tourism Agri-Linkages Exchange (ALEX) pilot project has assisted 400 local farmers with the marketing of approximately 360,000 kg of agricultural produce valued at over $39 million.

ALEX, which is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Tourism and the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), is the first online platform of its kind in the country. It brings hoteliers in direct contact with the farmers and, in turn, reduce leakages and retain more of the economic benefits of tourism in Jamaica.

The platform, which can be found at agrilinkages.com, allows farmers to plan to adequately address seasonality in crops; and provide information as it relates to geographic location of specific crops.

Speaking on Wednesday, at the opening of the Tourism Agri-Linkages Exchange (ALEX) Centre, housed at RADA’s St Andrew office, Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett said, “We are excited about this initiative because it removes the issues of the communication gaps that exist. It puts us in a position to say that wherever the farmers are, they can produce and sell to the hotels because ALEX is there to connect you.”

He also noted that, “It will remove the arguments from the hoteliers who say ‘I don’t know where your goods are or I don’t know who your farmers are.’ It invites a level of organization, so that even though ALEX will connect individual farmers, the logic of the arrangement will suggest that farmers can come together and create a critical mass that will enable a certitude of flows into the industry at all times.” 

The Minister also used the opportunity to encourage farmers to develop the capacity to produce more goods at a quality standard and price to remain competitive.

“We can produce far more…but the cost of producing the goods and services in Jamaica have to change radically so that we can be competitive. Price competitiveness is critical to be able to absorb the demand of tourism and other industries of this nature.

We can always talk about what can be done, but we have to create the mechanism to enable it to happen. Our costs must be lower. Our prices must be competitive. Our quality must be at the highest level and our availability to supply must be consistent,” said the Minister.

Commenting on the success of the initiative, RADA’s CEO Peter Thompson, shared that since the inception of ALEX, the number of participants and success stories are continuously growing.

“We had targeted 200 farmers in the pilot but we have achieved 400. The number of buyers and traders we have targeted was 80 but we are now at 100.  We have networked with 55 hotels, 8 exporters, 7 restaurants, 20 agro-processors and 10 supermarkets. The numbers are still growing,” said Thompson.  

The Ministry of Tourism, through the Tourism Enhancement Fund renovated the ALEX Centre and contracted a developer for the website at a cost of $7,728,400.

Through this exchange centre, farmers will have access to a physical space dedicated to calling or emailing the produce they have available to supply the tourism sector. The Centre will then market this information to the hospitality sector and provide support to other key agricultural stakeholders. 

The Minister noted that the ultimate goal will be to increase by 20% the number of farmers having continuous trade relationship with the hotel and tourism sector and decrease by 15% the imports of fresh produce to the hotel and tourism sector.