KINGSTON, Jamaica; June 20, 2018:  Tourism Minister, Hon Edmund Bartlett says the Global Centre for Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management is expected to be operational in September of this year, with an official launch scheduled for January 2019, during the Caribbean Travel Marketplace, which will be held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.

The Centre, which will be housed at the University of the West Indies, Mona, is being designed to help vulnerable states across the world, to recover quickly from natural disasters. It will specifically target destination preparedness, management and recovery from disruptions and/or crises that threaten economies and livelihoods globally, with real time data and effective communication. 

The Minister noted that the space at the University, has now been identified and documentation is already in place to meet the September deadline. The initial build out for the Centre is estimated at US $3 million, which the Tourism Minister says will be funded from international partners.

“On Friday, my advisor Dr Lloyd Waller and I will be going to the UWI to view the space that has been identified for housing this Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre.  Then on Saturday morning, I leave for Jordan where we will meet with the former Secretary General of the UNWTO [Dr Taleb Rifai] and a number of other experts. We will also finalise arrangements for the former Secretary General of the UN [Ban Ki-moon] to become a critical player,” said Minister Bartlett.

The Centre has already been endorsed by the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association and the Caribbean Tourism Organization, along with several overseas Universities such as Queensland and George Washington.

One of the first key outputs is the establishment of a journal which will begin the process of educating the world about disruptions and the role the institution will play in assisting the sector – both regionally and internationally. The next outlined step is to build the capacity of the Centre by acquiring the hardware and software required for it to be most impactful.

Underscoring the importance of the Resilience Centre, he said “Political turmoil, pandemics, shifting global economies as well as crime and violence can be equally devastating to travel and tourism. These disruptions present new challenges for the sector, requiring those at the forefront of the field to anticipate, prepare and respond to future shocks and build resilience against them.”

 He further stated that “we have to think beyond the theoretical and practical arrangements but to institutional arrangements.  Part of this is to ensure that resilience is maintained and built, and that crisis management is able to find its place not as an after-fact but as a proactive arrangement, so that we are prepared and deal with these disruptions that we know are going to come.”

The Centre was first announced during the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s Global Conference on Jobs and Inclusive Growth: Partnerships for Sustainable Tourism, held in Montego Bay last November during the International year of sustainable tourism for development.

Minister Bartlett made the announcement today during the opening of the OD Transformation Conference being held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel.  The event is being hosted by the Caribbean Centre for Organization Development Excellence Limited, (CARICODE) in collaboration with the Caribbean Organization Development Network (CODN), the Institute for Organization Development (IOD) in Florida and the Global Institute for Organization Development Network (GIODN). 

KINGSTON, Jamaica; June 19, 2018:  Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says his Ministry will be working closely with the new Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Audley Shaw, to ensure that imports to the tourism sector see a drastic reduction in the near future.

The announcement was made during a Tourism Linkages Council meeting at the office of the Tourism Enhancement Fund, on June 19, where Minister Shaw was invited as a special guest.

Minister Bartlett explained that the first thing his Ministry intends to do, is to host a series of town hall meetings, organized by the Tourism Linkages Network, to give local producers a better understanding of consumption patterns before making changes, which will ultimately have a positive impact on the economy.

“We have produced over time for seasonality and quotas and we have not become accustomed to 24/ consumption – that is what the tourism industry needs.  We have to produce larger volumes and we have to be selective in the products we produce. We also have to bear in mind that the consumption patterns in tourism are the same as the consumption patterns of the locals,” he said.

In response to concerns raised by members of the Council about the buying patterns of international all-inclusive resorts, the Minister noted that he will also be meeting with relevant ambassadors to form an amicable solution.

“After these meetings, we want to bring everyone together in September and hopefully we will have the information and be guided by this empirical data – particularly on demand,” he said.

Minister Shaw on the other-hand noted that his Ministry intends to utilise a number of new initiatives to improve their productivity.  

One such initiative is the utilization of the 'mother farm' concept, which will give large companies an avenue to enter into partnerships with small and medium farmers, by providing them with an avenue to sell their crops.

“We want to introduce mother farms on a more aggressive basis because they tend to help us where large people with knowhow, money etc, can help to provide that support of technology up-front, to do things properly and get the standards that wanted,” he said.

Minister Shaw went on to share that he felt it is important for the Ministries to strengthen collaboration, to create more opportunities for local farmers and producers, while enabling visitors to enjoy the Jamaican experience.

He also disclosed that he has written to the Prime Minister to turn the Agricultural Marketing Corporation (AMC) Complex, located on Spanish Town Road, into a modern processing facility.  A move he believes will ultimately improve local consumption in the hotels.

“It will package fresh food that we make locally – what the hotels can absorb locally they will and what the supermarkets can absorb they will.  It will then export it to markets including CARICOM and ultimately third party markets, such as the tourism industry,” said Minister Shaw.   

Minister Bartlett further noted that the Tourism Linkages Network will continue its mandate to increase the consumption of goods and services that can be competitively sourced locally.

The Tourism Linkages Council which was established in June 2013 is comprised of key public and private sector partners who oversee the coordination and implementation of effective and sustainable strategies which strengthen and facilitate linkages.

Technical as well as other support for the Council is provided by the Technical Working Groups (TWGs) for Agriculture and Manufacturing which works closely with the Tourism Linkages Network to identify and address specific issues that may emerge from time to time to prevent minimize leakages and strengthen linkages.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; June 13, 2018:  Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett will, starting today, meet with key tourism stakeholders as part of efforts to discuss concerns raised about entertainers hired within hotels.

"I will be meeting today with members of the Tourism Linkages Council with a specific focus on the Sports and Entertainment Network. The meeting is to review, clarify and discuss concerns raised regarding entertainers hired within hotels," said Minister Bartlett.

Minister Bartlett added that "It is important that any misleading information is resolved and that every tourism worker feels empowered and included within the Tourism value chain. We will also be looking closely at the demand for entertainers within the sector, the number of local entertainers, and challenges being faced among other things."

Discussions with the Tourism Linkages Council will also include transportation providers, craft entrepreneurs and the current island wide programme of sensitization of workers regarding the new tourism workers’ pension scheme that will come on stream later this year.

Minister Bartlett, will also meet with Spanish Hotel Group Invotel on Thursday June 14, 2018, to discuss data collection to help inform the Tourism Demand Study and cooperation on a number of matters including but not limited to local purchases of goods and services.

“I have always been an advocate of providing more economic opportunities for small and medium sized tourism businesses and enterprises, which includes entertainers, within the tourism value chain. This is why my Ministry established five Tourism Linkages Networks, one of which is Sports and Entertainment, to drive programmes and projects that create more of these economic opportunities.” Said Minister Bartlett.

The Ministry of Tourism has also established $1 billion dollar revolving loan through the Tourism Enhancement Fund and the Exim Bank to further to assist with investment for micro and small Jamaican owned businesses to build capacity to create and compete. This programme continues to be successful.

Minister Bartlett also noted that efforts will be followed up with engagements by Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Minister, Hon Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange with entertainment stakeholders and Labour and Social Security Minister, Hon Shahine Robinson to dissect the broad range of issues and ultimately address all concerns.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, June 7, 2018: With more than 70-members strong, the Insurance Association of the Caribbean (IAC) has endorsed the Global Centre for Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management, which will be housed at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus.

The IAC is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and growth of the Caribbean insurance industry through research, education and advocacy, and has both regional and international reach.

Addressing the IAC’s 38^th annual conference held recently at the Hyatt Ziva Resort, President Eric Hosin said the small islands and low-lying states in the Caribbean basin were among the most vulnerable at this time and noted “climate change and its impact on the insurance industry, travel, tourism and hospitality industry are all related.”

Announcing to the large gathering at the conference that “the IAC is giving full endorsement to the tourism resilience programme,” Mr. Hosin added, “We think it’s a fantastic thing and it is what we need because so many of us, not just here in the Caribbean but around the world, depend on tourism to strive as economies.”

Mr. Hosin said, “As an industry, this is critical to our success and survival in the Caribbean and, I think, around the world, and we’re hoping that our insurers and reinsurance companies will come onboard because it is something that we have been hoping for.”

“As an industry we are endorsing and supporting it and whatever we can do we want to encourage the Minister to really make this a reality,” the IAC President said.

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, giving opening remarks at the conference, welcomed the insurance industry’s endorsement, noting that it was the first Caribbean entity to show tangible support for the tourism resilience and crisis management centre.  He said it is expected to be operational in September and launched officially in January 2019 at Caribbean Marketplace, which will be held at the Montego Bay Convention Center.

Minister Bartlett posited that the centre was long overdue and would support vulnerable states in the Caribbean and beyond. “We want to put the Caribbean on the map in this regard, not only as thought leader but also as a repository of a whole series of information that can guide best practices, communication as well as marketing arrangements for tourism that has the fastest turnaround after a disaster,” he said.

While the possibility for fast turnaround was evident for Caribbean tourism, in particular, Minister Bartlett said what was needed “is the ability to recover quickly.” It was therefore important to build properly and be able to manage disruptions so as to have the resilience and capacity to manage available resources.

The centre will assist vulnerable states in destination preparedness, management and recovery from disruptions and/or crises that threaten economies and livelihoods globally with real time data and effective communication. 

Campaigning for the centre has been taken worldwide “with good effect,” said Minister Bartlett with interest and commitment coming from a number of multi-national companies and institutions, including several internationally recognized universities. Also backing the initiative are global agencies such as the World Tourism Organization, the World Travel and Tourism Council, the Caribbean Tourism Organization as well as Pacific Area Tourism Authority, which is the umbrella organization that deals with tourism activities across Asia and the Pacific.

NEW YORK, New York; June 07, 2018:  Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has called for a new architecture as it relates to Caribbean Tourism so as to add more value to the touristic experiences and increase growth.

 During his presentation on a Cohesive Caribbean Model, at a Caribbean Tourism Organization’s (CTO) Council of Tourism Ministers and Commissioners meeting yesterday, Minister Bartlett said, “Caribbean island-states are uniquely positioned to benefit from this phenomenal tourism growth that is anticipated to occur globally, at rate of 4-5% over the next several years, providing that certain arrangements and strategic planning are put in place on a region-wide basis.”

“As a region we need to recognize the indispensability of the tourism industry to economic development in the region and act to consolidate and increase shares of the global market.”

Highlighting the global competitiveness of the sector and the dependency of the region on this economic activity, Minister Bartlett urged CTO member states to seek a more collaborative approach in ensuring not only sustainability but resilience within the region.

According to Minister Bartlett, “Regional leaders in tourism- hoteliers, government officials, marketers, aviation authorities, must identify a multi-dimensional collaborative framework that is best suited for enhancing tourism products and services in the region. Failure to steadfastly and purposefully adopt this depended collaborative approach may be to the detriment of the long term competitiveness of our highly tourism-dependent regional economies.”

Whilst the Caribbean experienced 30 million visitors which resulted in US$37Billion in total visitor spending last year, Minister Bartlett called for “policymakers to strengthen cooperation aimed at identifying and developing strategies and innovations to consolidate and expand the region’s market shares of international visitors and also to make tourism more beneficial to local communities.”

“Only a deeper collaborative approach to tourism development in the region will allow for Caribbean states to combat shared threats and risks and remain globally competitive.”

Minister Bartlett is currently participating in the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s (CTO) annual Caribbean Week in New York. The CTO’s Caribbean Week is the largest regional tourism activity in the New York area.  This year, the event has attracted over 6000 participants, from over 24 member countries, engaging in a series of regional discussions on the future of the industry. 

During his visit to New York, the Minister is joined by John Lynch, Chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB); Donovan White, Director of Tourism; and Fiona Fennell, Senior Director of Corporate Communications at the Ministry of Tourism.   The Minister and his team are expected to return to the island on June 08, 2018.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; June 6, 2018: Jamaica tourism performance has hit yet another record with Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett today pointing out that stop over arrivals for the first five months of the year, January to May surpassed a million standing at roughly 1,025,997, representing a 5.5% increase over the same period last year.

Cruise arrivals also recorded a 5.5% increase for the same period standing at 933,892 thus bringing total visitor arrivals figures to a record-breaking near 2 million.

Bartlett noted that, “Having a million stopover tourist arrivals for the first five months of the year is truly unprecedented. These provisional estimates mean that over 52,000 more tourists arrived on our shores over the same period for 2017. It also means that we are on track to welcoming at least 4.6 million visitors for 2018, which is yet another record.”

"Jamaica's tourism continues to prove itself to be resilient and robust. I am pleased that through the hard work of our team and sector workers, and continued diversification of our product to focus on experiential tourism, Jamaica remains a world class destination that is highly sought after." 

Minister Bartlett added that, "of note is the significant increase in foreign exchange earnings for the period which increased by 9% and stood at US$1.3billion, up from US$1.2billion. As a main driver of economic growth, Tourism is consistently showing its impact on economies locally, regionally and globally."

Record tourist arrivals of 4.3 million in 2017, represented a 12.1% increase in arrivals over 2016 and making it the first time that Jamaica increased overall visitor arrivals by 500,000 in a single calendar year. This figure comprised approximately 2.35 million stopover arrivals and 1.95 million cruise passengers. Revenue flows grew from US$2.5billion in 2016 to a record revenue flow of approximately US$3 billion. The drive to increase tourist arrivals and revenue falls in line with the Ministry of Tourism's 5x5x5 growth agenda, which aims to attract 5 million tourists by 2021; generate US$5 billion in earnings; increase total direct jobs to 125,000 and add 15,000 rooms.

Meanwhile, Senior Strategist, Delano Seiveright pointed out that Bartlett’s multipronged and collaborative approach to growing the sector is reaping huge dividends. “More new flights, more new Hotel rooms, closer collaboration with cruise operators, enhancing relationships with non-traditional players like Airbnb and, of course, deepening linkages across entertainment, gastronomy, health and wellness, and other areas for first rate visitor experiences are the cornerstone of Bartlett's aggressive tourism growth strategy. He is effectively leading a team that pounds the pavement and gets things done in a year that started with some very serious challenges.”

NEW YORK, New York; June 06, 2018:  Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says the Caribbean needs to look at resilience in the advent of global disruptions such as natural disasters in a new way to ensure recovery and sustainability of the tourism sector.

Speaking at the second annual City Nation Place Americas conference yesterday, Minister Bartlett said, “In the Caribbean we recognize that hurricanes will come but if we haven’t built the capacity to withstand hurricanes and global disruptions such as pandemics, epidemics, cybercrimes and terrorism, there can be no sustainable development in our area.  The conference is being held in New York under the theme ‘Place branding in a crisis: lessons on rebuilding after Hurricane Irma’.

“Resilience therefore means building the capacity to anticipate what will be happening by tracking these disruptions, managing the process when they arrive, and recovering not just in real time, but in Nano time, so as to ensure the stability of the region.”

With the increase in global disruptions and a need to respond effectively and recover swiftly, Minister Bartlett highlighted a need for a mechanism to coordinate these responses on a timely basis. The establishment therefore of a Global Centre for Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management is a direct response to this need. Minister Bartlett said, “The Caribbean will be leading the way with global resilience and capacity building, as the first ever Global Centre for Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management will be housed at the U.W.I, Mona in Jamaica.

“The Centre, which should be launched by January 2019 during Caribbean Market Place and the Global Conference on Small and Medium Sized Tourism Enterprises in Montego Bay, Jamaica, will play an important role in terms of research, monitoring and evaluation as well as training and capacity building, and will help us to respond better each time to these disruptions.”

City Nation Place Americas is the forum for place branding and place marketing for nations, regions, states and cities across the USA, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. 

While in New York Minister Bartlett will also participate in the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s (CTO) annual Caribbean Week in New York, which will include a CTO Council of Tourism Ministers and Commissioners meeting and the Caribbean Diaspora Forum.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; June 05, 2018:  Tourism Minister, Hon Edmund Bartlett, will this week share his strategy on creating a cohesive tourism model to increase economic development of the region with fellow Caribbean Tourism Ministers in New York City.

The Minister will make his presentation tomorrow, during the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s (CTO) Council of Tourism Ministers and Commissioners meeting, which forms a part of the CTO’s annual Caribbean Week.

“I am going to be presenting the way forward for Caribbean tourism. We are excited about that because it offers a whole new perspective on how we can do more to get more.  The focus of the paper is going to be on value-added. Specifically, how do we enable people from the Caribbean family to benefit more from the fruits of tourism?” said Minister Bartlett.

The Minister also added that it was especially critical for the region’s leaders to consider this approach of increased collaboration, so that they can collectively combat shared threats and risks, while remaining sustainable and competitive in the international market.

“The region can no longer take for granted its coveted position as a premier destination and calls must be repeated for policymakers to strengthen cooperation, expand the region’s market share of international visitors and also make the industry more beneficial to local communities,” he explained.

The CTO’s Caribbean Week is the largest regional tourism activity in the New York area.  This year, the event has attracted over 6000 participants, from over 24 member countries, engaging in a series of regional discussions on the future of the industry.  

“The annual Caribbean Week event, is an opportunity that brings a number of key players of the industry to interface with the Ministers and the heads of tourism boards across the region. The whole purpose of which is to highlight what is new, exciting and different.

“We will look at trends in the market and help the Caribbean to respond to these trends, by benefiting from best practices as demonstrated by some of our partners. So, this week is going to involve discussions and debates, but also an opportunity to review the performance of the industry. As well as how we have managed the industry,” explained the Minister.

During the Week, Minister Bartlett will participate in other important meetings such as the Caribbean Diaspora Forum. He will also join Richard Cutting-Miller of Resonance Consultancy and Hugh Riley, Secretary General & CEO of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) at the second annual City Nation Place Americas conference, for a panel discuss on “Place branding in a crisis: lessons on rebuilding after Hurricane Irma.”

City Nation Place Director Claire Dewhirst also asked the Minister to speak to Jamaica’s response strategy, given the impact that the hurricane had on international perceptions which also affected the island.

During his visit to New York, the Minister is joined by John Lynch, Chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB); Donovan White, Director of Tourism; and Fiona Fennell, Senior Director of Corporate Communications at the Ministry of Tourism.   The Minister and his team are expected to return to the island on June 08, 2018. 

KINGSTON, Jamaica; June 04, 2018: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett today presented Destination Assurance Managers from each of the island’s resort areas with satellite phones designed to increase communication during major climatic disruptions and other natural disasters.

Speaking at the official handing over ceremony for the satellite phones, at the Ministry of Tourism’s New Kingston office, the Minister said that, “To ensure that the tourism sector can respond quickly and recover fast is central to the overall economic pattern that Jamaica and the Caribbean must have. Communication is a central part of resilience building and the ability to bring modern high-tech devices to our communications process is essential.”

Minister Bartlett also disclosed that his Ministry would also provide much-needed regional communications support, via the Global Centre for Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management, which will be housed at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus.

The six satellite phones were acquired as part of an overall system designed to improve the interface and dialogue between the Tourism Ministry and its agencies, the Tourism Emergency Operations Centres, the National Emergency Operations Centre, the Tourism Resort Areas as well as tourism partners and stakeholders. 

The Ministry’s Senior Director of Technical Services, David Dobson, who was also at the launch, explained that the satellite phones were acquired based on feedback from tourism stakeholders and disaster managers in 2015, which pointed to the need to enhance the sector’s disaster mitigation and emergency response framework. 

“Previously, we had two-way radios which had a five-mile radius and were not sufficient to cover the entire island. Having received the feedback, we allocated satellite phones that can be used to make calls anywhere in the world even when the network is down. They can also call any kind of phone and provide for faster communication flow,” said Mr Dobson.  

Since 2006, the Ministry has been working in collaboration with the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) to mainstream Disaster Risk Management within the tourism sector through its Multi-hazard and Contingency Planning Programme.

As a result of the partnership with ODPEM, the Ministry has created a comprehensive disaster management framework that is managed by the Tourism Emergency Management Committee (TEMC) which advises on, plans and coordinates the management of natural and man-made hazards and emergencies that threaten Jamaica’s tourism industry. 

In expressing his appreciation for the devices, Director General of the ODPEM, Major Clive Davis said, “The Ministry of Tourism is moving beyond the challenge [of communicating during disasters] and is taking proactive steps to strengthen their disaster communications system.”

He also gave his assurance that the national disaster office stands ready to continue to support the development of the programme and provide any required assistance. 

KINGSTON, Jamaica; May 28, 2018:  Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has announced a series of senior appointments to the board of directors of the Montego Bay Convention Centre (MBCC).

This follows Cabinet approval for the ownership of the MBCC to be transferred from the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) to the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Finance and Public Service.

Tourism stalwart and current Chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board, John Lynch has been appointed Chairman of the MBCC.  Other members of the board include: Executive Director of the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), Dr Andrew Spencer; Banker, Andrea Lyle; Restaurateur, Robert Russell and Chairman of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), Godfrey Dyer.

A major part of this arrangement is for the Ministry of Tourism to handle the daily management, operation and marketing of the facility.

The Ministry’s proposed plans for the centre include the possible development of the facility to house a hotel on property; creation of retail shops and housing the Jamaica Centre of Tourism Innovation – which just completed its pilot phase with over 150 graduates.

Minister Bartlett also noted that the Montego Bay Convention Centre will continue to play a pivotal role in leveraging Jamaica as the preferred Caribbean destination for the 'Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, and Events (MICE) market.

Other senior appointments to the MBCC, such as the Executive Director, will be announced at a later date.

The MBCC was first opened in 2011 and has a combined total of 139, 302 square feet of meeting, exhibition and ballroom spaces. It is also a five time recipient of the World Travel Award for being the Caribbean's Leading Meetings and Conference Centre.