KINGSTON, Jamaica; October 14, 2018: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has ordered an intensive security audit of the tourism sector including hotels and attractions as part of efforts to strengthen destination assurance. 

“I’ve directed the Tourism Product Development Company, which is in charge of maintaining quality assurance within the destination, to coordinate an intensive security audit of the sector so as to 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, so we will apply tough sanctions where breaches and or significant weaknesses are found. ” said Minister Bartlett.

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

The Tourism Development Product Company, (TPDCo), through its various departments, works closely with all operators of tourism- related facilities promoting the attributes of a quality product, monitoring same and engaging the relevant authorities in a continuous effort to satisfy consumer demand and expectations. The company adopts, sets and promotes standards, guidelines and checklists for the industry in order to attain global competitiveness.

Minister Bartlett added that, “Security remains a top priority of my Ministry as this is an integral component to maintaining destination assurance. We are committed to ensuring that all visitors and locals feel safe.”

The TPDCo will over the next couple of weeks review security protocols and issues across the sector and provide recommendations where needed. Tough actions where needed will follow.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; October 13, 2018: Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett has highlighted that revenue from both cruise and stopover arrivals is outpacing total arrival figures.

Speaking at the Ministry of Tourism’s recent two day mid-term review and strategic planning retreat, Minister Bartlett said, “Preliminary data from the Jamaica Tourist Board shows that foreign exchange earnings are outpacing arrival figures by ten percent,

Last year we saw an unprecedented 4.3million visitors which translated to USD3billion in foreign exchange earnings and the projection is that by the end of this year, Jamaica will see earnings of USD3.3Billion.”

Minister Bartlett lead the two day mid-term review and strategic planning retreat, held at the Terra Nova Hotel, where heads of agencies, divisions and senior manages within the ministry discussed the progress they have made in meeting key performance indicators set ahead of their last meeting. The meeting included all agencies of the Ministry of Tourism – the Jamaica Tourist Board, Tourism Enhancement Fund, Tourism Product Development Company, Devon House Development Company, Jamaica Vacations Ltd, Bath Fountain Hotel and Spa and Milk River Hotel and Spa.

“From this two day self-analysis we were able to drill down to critical programme areas and review our progress so far using data. Of note is that it has been highlighted that for the last five years, our arrivals have grown by 35% and revenue by over 40% which  means that we on a positive upward trajectory in both areas,” said Minister Bartlett.

In 2016, Minister Bartlett established 5x5x5 growth targets for the Ministry and its agencies, which seeks to grow the tourism contribution to the economy by providing 5 million visitors over a 5 year period; earn US $5 billion; employ 125,000 directly in the industry; increase room stock by 15,000; and grow at 5% per annum.

Minister Bartlett added that “Through the strategic and deliberate approach of my Ministry and agencies, we are seeing that the KPIs established may have to be revised as we are well on target to achieving and even surpassing these benchmarks. The team has done a tremendous job and through their hard work the sector is experiencing a boom we expected to continue.”

KINGSTON, Jamaica; October 11, 2018: Tourism Minister, Hon Edmund Bartlett says his Ministry has exceeded its growth targets and is leading the world in tourism innovation.

The Minister made this announcement today during his Ministry’s two day mid-term strategic review and planning retreat’, taking place at the Terra Nova All-Suite hotel in Kingston, where heads of agencies, divisions and senior manages within the ministry are discussing the progress they have made in meeting key performance indicators set ahead of their last meeting.

“Jamaica has led the world in terms of tourism innovation. In the process, we have given the world new phrases and references and we have added to the lexicon of tourism. We were able to get the United Nations World Tourism Organization to accept that there is something called SMTEs [Small and Medium Tourism Enterprises], and to create a category of emphasis on this by global financers and policy makers and thinkers,” said Minister Bartlett.

As a result of Jamaica’s global petitioning for small entrepreneurs in tourism, the Minister said that other major global institutions have responded in a major way to provide the much needed assistance.

“The Organization of American States  has come on board with a programme for the first time in its history, which is going to be unfolded in our conference in January next year in Montego Bay.

“They have put together US $500,000 to be made available to SMTEs in the Caribbean. This was a direct response to the global conference Jamaica hosted last November, where one of the three outcomes was to establish SMTE projects around the world. This is significant because 80% of tourism is driven by SMTEs but only 20 % is returned to them,” said the Minister.

According to the Minister, another key innovation is that Jamaica has led the charge globally with the establishment of a Global Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, which will be established next year at the University of the West Indies Mona campus.

“The bigger picture for this Centre is to assist the smaller states that are vulnerable and have no capacity to respond to global disruptions. We will give technical support and guidance; provide academic support and eventually create a whole field of study for undergrads and graduates. That is the kind of thought leadership we are providing the world. What we are seeking to do is create a greater balance between those who have capacity and those who don’t have it so there will be a greater possibility for a higher rate of survival,” he said.

Bartlett says the first board meeting for the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre will take place in London next month, to discuss the creation and implementation of an official strategy, for the development of the Centre.

During the retreat, he also commended the senior team at the Ministry for their stellar performance in meeting the Ministry’s 5x5x5 objective.

“We established objectives, and we began by saying we wanted to grow the tourism contribution to our economy by providing 5 million visitors over a 5 year period. We wanted to earn US $5 billion and to employ 125,000 directly in the industry, and increase room stock by 15,000. We also wanted to do that by growing at 5% per annum as a minimum we created our own learning device – the 5 x 5 x5,” said the Minister.

He went on to share that “because of your hard work, we can confidently proclaim that the country remains firmly on track to achieving or even surpassing some of the benchmarks under our ‘5x5x5’growth plan. Specifically the 5% annual growth target that we have earmarked over the next five years even amid projections for tourism growth in the region to exceed no more than 3.5 percent up to 2020.”

KINGSTON, Jamaica; October 05, 2018:  Tourism Minister, Hon Edmund Bartlett says the innovative work being done by Jamaica’s Tourism Linkages Network, was recently commended during the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Public Forum session on "Innovation and Digital Transformation for Sustainable and Inclusive Tourism" which took place on October 3 at the organisation's headquarters in Geneva.

The presentation was specifically on programmes and initiatives of the Ministry of Tourism to drive the build out of linkages throughout the Jamaican economy, so that the benefits of tourism are spread farther and wider in a sustainable way to satisfy the best interests of the people of Jamaica.

“The feedback we have received from Switzerland was fantastic. I was truly honoured to share the work our country has been doing through my Ministry’s Tourism Linkages Network. We are undoubtedly a leading destination for adapting to and creating solutions for the digital transformation that is happening globally in the industry,” said the Minister.

As the Minister is currently in France on official duty, his message was delivered by Her Excellency Cheryl Spencer, Jamaica's Ambassador/Permanent Representative in Switzerland.   

According to official reports received by the WTO, the presentation was well received by the audience, “many of whom made references to it during the discussions and commended Jamaica for the pace-setting strides being made in its Tourism Linkages network, as well as its use of innovation and digital transformation within the sector.”

“The work my Linkages Network is doing should not only be noted as significant, but ground-breaking. We are working to ensure that tourism has deeper linkages which will allow us to attract more investors and stimulate small and medium entrepreneurial activities so that more people stand to benefit from this booming sector,” said the Minister.

Following the presentation, WTO Secretariat and Facilitator of the Session, Dale Honneck shared that Jamaica’s experience was the inspiration for having a session on Innovation and Digital Transformation for Sustainable and Inclusive Tourism.

The panellists for the session included: Gloria Guevara Manzo, President and Chief Executive Officer, World Travel and Tourism Council; Arancha Gonzalez, Executive Director, International Trade Centre; and Torbjorn Fredriksson, Chief- ICT Policy, UN Conference for Trade and Development.

It also included Franck Mwe de Malila, Minister of Tourism of the Democratic Republic of Congo; and Jaime Alberto Cabal Sanclemente, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization.  

The WTO is a global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business. It has 164 members, representing 98 per cent of world trade. 

Minister Bartlett is currently in France with the Director of Tourism, Donovan White and will return to the island on October 7, 2018.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; October 2, 2018: Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett fresh from his visit to London for Jamaica Travel Market, has announced that Jamaica is to benefit from nineteen (19) weeks of stopover and cruise passengers for the winter tourist season in 2019.

This follows commitments from TUI and their Marella cruise line, which is forecasted to inject more than USD10million in revenues, deliver incrementally over 26,000 passengers and see 43,000 beds occupied.

Minister Bartlett noted that “The forecast for increased growth and revenue for Jamaica is exceptional. These additional passengers follows on the heels of securing a record 1.3 million airplane seats out of the Americas for the upcoming winter tourist season. This is the result of strategically strengthening relations with airlift partners, major cruise-lines and investors.”

Marella Cruises (formerly Thomson Cruises) is a British cruise line operated by TUI UK, offering cruise holidays around Europe, the Caribbean, and Asia. 

“Jamaica is buoyed by our continued growth which shows that between January and August of this year, we welcomed 2,953,895 visitors, an increase of 4.6 percent over the same period last year. Cruise visitors accounted for 1,239,835. Our gross foreign exchange earnings for the same period were US$2.2 billion, up 7.4 percent over the same period in 2017.

I commend my team that has been aggressively engaging with our established markets such as Canada, USA, Europe and re-entering markets that we would like to see increased traffic from such as Latin America and Japan,” added Minister Bartlett.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; September 27, 2018:  Minister of Tourism, the Hon Edmund Bartlett has signalled that with the current linkages challenges in the tourism industry, the transportation and attractions sectors have come into sharp focus by the Wilfred Baghaloo led Tourism Working Group. This decision is based on recommendations from the working group.

Baghaloo is a senior executive at PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

“Since the working group was formed in July, there has been in excess of twenty meetings with local stakeholders particularly in the transportation, tour operator services and attractions sectors as well as destination management companies. From these meetings it has been highlighted that several gaps exist which the working group will be urgently reviewing so as to provide recommendations on the way forward” said Minister Bartlett.

“We also recognize the huge investments made by thousands of local investors including JUTA, JCAL, Maxi, Destination Management Companies, and the large hotel operators and as such there must be a balance and equity among these suppliers which may require a policy framework at the national level. My Ministry remains committed to ironing out the issues being faced by our local suppliers to ensure they experience more economic growth in the value chain” added Minister Bartlett.

Over the years, local stakeholders have invested between $35 billion to $45 billion because of the massive influx of investments including cruise and hotels.

Mr. Baghaloo, who leads the technical arrangements for the Tourism Working Group said the next set of activities is to meet with foreign investors to get their perspective on the matter. He emphasized, “It is critical we get the right balance between the local and foreign investors to ensure the sector continues to grow for the mutual benefit of all. One current recommendation is the suspension on the issuance of any new Domestic Tour Operator and Attraction Licences until the committee finishes its work, which is expected to be early next year.”

Mr. Baghaloo added that “We Jamaicans need to be mindful of the level of substantial risk the investors are taking, but equally the foreign investors need to be cognizant that growth must be felt by the people that participate in the industry on a daily basis.”

If not, the wider public will not participate in the industry in a productive and structured manner which will cause dysfunctional behavior such as tourist harassment at the points of entries – airports, seaports, and at the hotels themselves. We are bordering a crisis and we need to act fast.”

The Tourism Working Group, established on July 12, was set up to review a range of issues within the sector including the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA), work permits, ground transportation and entertainment, among others.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; September 26, 2018: Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett has officially launched the Hospitality and Tourism Management Programme (HTMP). The HTMP is the first of its kind certification programme for high schools developed by the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) and will allow students to gain entry-level qualification in tourism.

Speaking at the handover of HTMP books to students and teachers, at the official launch at Spot Valley High on Monday (September 24), Minister Bartlett explained that “The objective of providing skills training and enabling certification of competence is one of the basic and fundamental development that must happen in ensuring the building of the human capital within our country and specifically tourism. This has become even more necessary as the sector experiences exponential growth,

Fifty years ago, 400 thousand people visited Jamaica and spent USD87million, last year, 4.3million people visited the island and spent USD3Billion. In the same period, fifty years ago, we employed 9,000 people and this year up to August we employed 120,000 people directly.”

The Ministry of Tourism provided $100 million to launch the HTMP and the initiative is being done in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information. The programme will be delivered in conjunction with colleges participating in the Centre of Occupational Studies (COS) Programme, which facilitates technical training and certification at the college level.

Minister Bartlett added, “Tourism is now a profession which requires training. The business of the industry is always about giving higher service and higher value to the visitor so in order to do that we have to equip you with higher levels of skills to have more knowledge, more information and be able to apply the information in a more creative and valuable way,

We are doing this in two folds, training our high school students through this HTMP and also building the professional cadre in the industry and by providing a pathway to professionalism for those who are currently working in the industry through the Jamaica Centre for Tourism Innovation.”

The Jamaica Centre for Tourism Innovation (JCTI) was born out of Vision 2030’s Tourism Sector Development Plan, which calls for the development of a training institution focused on developing a management cadre with the skills, knowledge and motivation required by tourism entities. It will facilitate the certification and licensure of Jamaicans working in tourism as well as facilitate innovation in tourism. In April this year, there were over 150 graduates who acquired Associate Degrees in Customer Service, and gained AHLEI Certification, NVQJ Certification, and Customer Service Industry Association recognition.

“What we are doing is part of our commitment to the overall human capital development in the tourism industry so we can redefine the labour market arrangements so tourism workers can demand more pay and work anywhere in the world,

We are also going to make it a requirement that all hotels and key providers of tourism services not only recognize the graduates and their qualification but enable access to all of them within at least the first five years so that we can guarantee no second guessing of the quality and the integrity of the experience that we are marketing globally,” Minister Bartlett concluded.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica; September 26, 2018:  Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett departed the island yesterday to attend the Jamaica Travel Market (JTM) in London. This trip forms part of the Ministry’s new strategy to aggressively target new and traditional markets, to attain double-digit growth and promote Jamaica as the ideal winter tourism destination.

The Minister and his delegation will also take the opportunity to meet with top tour operators in the UK to share exciting resort developments and new offerings.

The JTM is being organised by the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) for the third time, to showcase Jamaica as a premiere destination. It provides the ideal B2B platform for British tour operators and agents, primarily, to meet with Jamaican suppliers and partners directly.

“This important JTB event continues to grow from strength to strength.  It is so important that we regularly come together to strategically identify what the consumer passion points are and what drives people to Jamaica so that we can deliver these things to them,” said Minister Bartlett.

The JTM will offer a chance for buyers, planners, suppliers and agents to network and participate in workshops, with the aim of gaining new business. The JTB will also host an event focusing on Jamaica’s most unique, top-end hotels and resorts. 

The meetings with key international stakeholders across the world, has already shown some positive results. The Minister shared that so far that there will be 1.3 million seats for this winter, which is the largest number of seats the country has ever had.

A breakdown of the seats show that there will be 870,000 seats from America, an increase of 38,000 over last year; 370,000 out of Canada, an increase of 43,000 over the corresponding period last year; 25,000 seats out of Latin America, which is 5,000 more than the previous year; and 10,000 from the Caribbean.

Minister Bartlett will be accompanied by Mr. Donovan White, Director of Tourism, and will return to the island on September 30, 2018.  A full report of the tour will be presented in November 2018.

TOKYO, Japan; September 25, 2018: Honourable Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism, along with His Excellency Ricardo Allicock, Jamaica’s Ambassador to Japan, met recently, with Mr. Hiromi Tagawa, President of the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) and Chairman of the Board of the JTB Corp., to continue discussions on Japan’s partnership with Jamaica in the establishment of a Global Centre for Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management, which is to be housed at the University of the West Indies, Mona.

This, along with his encounter with the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan, His Excellency Hiroshige Sekō, as well as senior level executives of the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO), served to further promote the government’s agenda towards enhancing tourism relations between Jamaica and Japan.

In keeping with the foregoing, talks were held on possible airlift options and packages that would see greater interest in travel to Jamaica and the wider Caribbean region. The Minister noted recent trends in the Japanese millennial market, as an important feature of Japan’s increasing outbound travel and the opportunities for closer engagement between the travel agencies of both countries.

Minister Bartlett acknowledged the significant efforts of the Japanese government, travel agencies and other private stakeholders in staging a successful 2018 Tourism Expo, given the level of international support received and partnerships forged - including Japan’s partnership in the Global Centre for Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management in Jamaica.

The Minister noted that Jamaica embraced Japan’s pre-eminence in the field of Tourism Resilience and was honoured to have their contribution at the level of the Board of Governors in the Global Resilience Centre.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica; September 24, 2018:  Tourism Minister, Hon Edmund Bartlett says that 2017 has been the most significant year to date in the island’s tourism history – shattering records in arrivals, earnings and investments.

Speaking to stakeholders at the opening of the Jamaica Product Exchange (JAPEX) yesterday, at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, the Minister shared that “in a single year, we increased arrivals by 500,000. We increased our earnings by US$500 million – a record for any English-speaking Caribbean country in this area. We were able to do that because of you our partners who have helped to establish the known fact that Jamaica is the best destination anywhere in this side of God’s beautiful earth.”

He further noted that his Ministry has already put measures in place to build on this success by strengthening relations with airlift partners, major cruise-lines and investors.

Following a recent tour of major markets such as  Latin America, Canada, USA, Europe and Japan, the Minister says that the outcome of these deliberations will lead Jamaica to exceed the 5% projected for the third consecutive year.

“We have negotiated thousands of additional seats for the 2018-2019 Winter season that we think will give further momentum to the market, including: 38,000 more seats out of the USA; 42,400 more seats out of Canada – a record; 12,000 more seats from Continental Europe; and 7,455 more seats out of the UK and Northern Europe,” said the Minister.

The Minister also announced that commencing this October, several new flights will be making their landing at the Sangster International Airport directly out of Eastern Europe, including Pegas Fly and Norwind.  

Canada's newest low-cost carrier, Swoop, a subsidiary of Westjet, will also commence twice-weekly non-stop flights between the city of Hamilton in Ontario and Montego Bay, starting December 16. While Sunwing will start once-weekly non-stop flights between the city of Sudbury in Ontario, Canada, and Montego Bay, starting this December and ending in April next year.

“We are also going to be increasing connectivity with France. In fact, we are going to France very soon to tie up an arrangement to ensure that there will be air connectivity from Paris into Montego Bay, Jamaica.

“Additionally, on the 26th of October the first flight from Russia with love, will come back to Montego Bay – a Dreamliner with 414 passengers. They told me they had to increase the number of rooms in a certain Negril hotel because the flight was selling so well,” said the Minister.

He noted that the high-performance of the industry was recognised by the illustrious World Travel Awards, which took place on Saturday September 22, where Jamaica received a large number of accolades.

“Jamaica had the greatest showering of awards that the island has seen in decades at the world travel awards…We got almost every award... Partners all I must say to you that sometimes in my quieter moments, I think that we are perhaps the most awarded destination the Caribbean,” he said.

During the prestigious ceremony, Jamaica was awarded the Caribbean's Leading Destination, Caribbean's Leading Cruise Destination, Caribbean's Leading Cruise Port, and the Caribbean's Leading Home Port.

Other accolades included the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) being named Caribbean's Leading Tourist Board, the Sangster International Airport being named the Caribbean’s Leading Airport, as well as the Montego Bay Convention Centre getting the Caribbean's Leading Meeting and Conference Centre award.

JAPEX is the premier trade event for the travel industry locally and is a collaborative initiative between the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) and the JTB. Staged annually, the three-day trade show provides the ideal forum for leading suppliers in Jamaica’s tourism industry to negotiate, network, and meet with tour operators, travel wholesalers and other tourism partners from across the globe.