KINGSTON, Jamaica; March 22, 2018:  Jamaica is celebrating its #1 ranking on the TripAdvisor® Travelers’ Choice™ awards’ Best Destinations in the Caribbean list.

The well respected planning and booking website highlighted the Caribbean’s best islands based on the quantity and quality of reviews and ratings for hotels, restaurants and attractions.

Based on the data which was gathered over a 12-month period, Jamaica was also named the 14^thBest Destination in the World.

“Jamaica is truly honoured to once again be named the Best Destination in the Caribbean and to be listed in the top 20 destinations in the world. This honour is particularly special because it is an honour bestowed on us by visitors who have ranked the services we provide them as exemplary,” said Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett.

The Tourism Minister went on to say that this accomplishment is a special one for Jamaica, and is one that should be especially cherished by all stakeholders and employees of the industry who have made it their duty to make the visitors’ experiences unforgettable.

“The Ministry of Tourism will do our part to ensure that Jamaica’s tourism product is continuously strengthened and given the support it needs to better meet all the needs of our visitors. Most importantly we will ensure that our destination remains safe, seamless and secure,” said the Minister.

TripAdvisor® has also named Seven Mile Beach in Negril the 8^thBest Beach in the World for 2018.  With one impressed user sharing that the famous Negril beach is “One of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. Breathtaking, absolutely stunning. A must-see.” 
 

Other world-ranking accolades from TripAdvisor® included Iberostar Grand Hotel, Rose Hall being named the 13^thBest All-Inclusive Hotel in the World and Beaches Negril and Spa the 22^ndBest Hotel in the World for Family.

“Jamaica is undoubtedly a special destination and also a favourite getaway spot for the rich and famous. Most recently we’ve had the pleasure of welcoming music power couple Beyoncé and Jay-Z to our island, who I am told are here to record new music and film a music video in Trench Town.  We also had comedian Mike Epps; Prince Harry and his fiancée, Meghan Markle; singer Shawn Mendes; Khloe Kardashian from the E! reality hit show, Keeping up with the Kardashians, who visited with her National Basketball Association boyfriend, Tristan Thompson; and signers Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez” said the Minister.

The Minister went on to share that “the positive publicity our ‘A-list’ guests have given our island is invaluable. This proves that Jamaica remains a lucrative market for high-end resorts. I am certain that their visits will boost the island’s appeal to the world and positively impact our arrivals; thus, helping us to continue to climb in the rankings of the TripAdvisor® users in years to come.” 

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica; Monday, March 21, 2018: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says, the Jamaica Centre of Tourism Innovation (JCTI) has made a promising start with 12 hotels and over 150 individuals participating in its pilot of two important certification programmes.

In a review of the pilot last Friday, it was revealed that the population of persons to be certified was quite impressive. 91 candidates completed the examinations last week for the designation Certified Hospitality Supervisor (CHS) through the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) and are now awaiting their results. This group included recent college graduates and individuals who are working in local hotels.

“I’m very happy with the progress we’ve made with this very important initiative. My Ministry is determined to provide more training opportunities to increase certification and innovation for the very talented people of Jamaica. This is the essence of what is going to build out the professional pathway in tourism,” said the Minister.

In addition, the Minister also noted that other success stories from the pilot include: 13 college graduates are currently pursuing American Culinary Federation (ACF) certification; 25 academic staff and 9 students are set to receive Certified Hospitality Information Analytics (CHIA) certification from STR Share; and 3 of Jamaica’s ACF certified chefs will be certified as ACF Evaluators, a move that will give local chefs qualification to assess candidates and award certification.

The Project Coordinator Ms CarolRose Brown noted that though more than 25 hotels signed up, 12 participated in the Pilot, including the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, Courtyard by Marriott, Spanish Court, Moon Palace, the ClubHotel Riu – Ocho Rios, 'Half Moon- a Rock Resort', Sandals Royal, Sandals Montego Bay, Royalton Negril, Hedonism II Negril, Coco La Palm and Sunset at the Palms.

Minister of Education, Senator, Hon. Ruel Reid, said in remarks read by Regional Director Dr Michelle Pinnock, that he was satisfied with the outcome of the pilot, noting, “The goal of these certifications is in line with the ministry’s goal that by age 30 all Jamaicans should hold some form of certification.”

He was pleased that the JCTI had embarked on providing international industry certified workers for tourism and notes that with the Ministry of Education Youth and Information “we’ve had an increase in the number of students majoring in tourism related courses, an increase in the number successfully passing their examinations and gaining international industry certification as professionals”

Senator Reid’s Representative also said the Joint Committee on Tertiary Education (JCTE) had spearheaded and coordinated talks with the JCTI and The National Council on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (NCTVET) senior executives to provide National Vocational Qualification of Jamaica (NVQ-J) certification for hotel workers across Jamaica, starting Early in the new financial year.

The Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) has also endorsed the JCTI’s programmes. President Omar Robinson lauded the first cohort of 150 tourism employees who participated in JCTI pilot, stating that the international certification programmes would provide them with valuable knowledge to aid in their development and growth as true professionals.

He charged the participants “to become the change agents as our tourism product evolves; for them to become the creators or innovators of the future of tourism I Jamaica and ultimately the Caribbean.”

The JCTI has also received endorsement from the JCTE with its president, Dr Cecil Cornwall welcoming the avenues being created for a wider spread of professionalism in the hospitality sector.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica; March 17, 2018:  Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says the Hampden Wharf Development Project, will further his Ministry’s efforts to reposition the town of Falmouth as one of the Caribbean's premier cruise destinations and leading resort towns. 

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for the mega-infrastructure project, on March 16, the Minster shared that the $550 million investment being made by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), will yield high returns to the country’s economy, as it will create an environment to accommodate several Falmouth-owned local small enterprises and other businesses.

“The Hampden Wharf Development forms part of our ongoing discussions on how we can make the small and medium enterprises within the structure, become more responsive to the demand of tourism…to bring more earnings and income into the destination – and most importantly for the retention of these earnings in the communities that are the beneficiaries of tourism,” said Minister Bartlett.

The project currently sits on 1.6 hectares of land along the historic Falmouth Port. It is being executed by the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) and the Urban Development Company, with the first phase expected to be completed by the fourth quarter 2018.  .

“The US $5.7 million project will have: 47 shops; five restaurants and bars; 12 mini-stalls which will allow our visitors to get a taste of Jamaica; and 12 major shops and activities for children. It is going to be something quite unlike anything else in the Caribbean,” said PAJ President, Professor Gordon Shirley.

A key feature will be the establishment of the island’s first artisan village, an initiative being driven by the Tourism Product Development Company, which will accommodate 18 shops along 540 square metres.

The five proposed artisan villages are expected to provide an avenue for Jamaican artists and craft persons to expose and express their creativity, while limiting the volume of imported craft items that are being sold in the industry.

“It is very important for us to build the quality of our craft product and to provide a variety. We must remember that people come to buy Jamaican things, taste Jamaican food and experience Jamaican music. The artisan village therefore, will be a confluence of ‘Jamaicanisms’ that the visitor will know is authentic and opinionated,” said Minister Bartlett.

Other aspects of the Hampden Wharf development include: the extension of the Port connecting the locals with visitors; paved surfaces with mixed textures and defined paths; landscaped areas; storyboards where applicable; adaptive re-use of historic buildings; and a rich mix of retail and local eateries, craft and history.

The TEF and its partners are also in the process of completing other enhancement projects in the town, such as the Falmouth Streetscape Project.

The Minister underscored that work being done in Falmouth will have a central role to play in the Ministry of Tourism’s growth strategy to attract five million visitors and generate US$5 billion in tourism earnings by 2021.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica; Friday, March 16, 2018: With thousands of new hotel rooms coming on stream in the next two years, Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett is making a case for major investments to meet a greater demand for supplies in growing the tourism sector.

In his keynote address to open the fifth Tourism Linkages Speed Networking event at the Montego Bay Convention Centre yesterday, Mr. Bartlett underscored the need for a large volume of local supply of consistent quality and at competitive prices, to better meet demand.

“That cannot be done by the small and medium enterprises and so we need new partnerships to be forged between our larger stakeholders and suppliers of the country,” he said. But, he stressed, “Not a partnership that is driven by the government but one which realizes that the value chain can be enhanced and their own integrative strategies can be enabled if they partner with suppliers.”

The Tourism Minister advocated Jamaica attracting large investment from suppliers who have done well in other countries to partner with locals to produce at the quality, volume and price required. “They did it in the Dominican Republic and I want it to be done in Jamaica,” he asserted.

Mr Bartlett said he was pushing for this kind of partnership because in relation to what is required to get US$5 billion in five years, “we are looking now at another 10,000 rooms that will be ready by 2020 (and) there is the demand for more goods and services, so we need investment on the supply side and that’s what I am going for.”

He stressed that tourism was poised to play an even greater role in preserving and maintaining growth in Jamaica and other countries, but while there have been quantitative gains with a record 4.3 million visitors to Jamaica last year, the nearly US$3 billion in earning was inadequate.  “It also indicated that the average spend of the visitor to Jamaica for stopover purposes is only US$134 and for cruise passengers, just US$90. What that tells you is that these figures are not acceptable, they are not high enough,” said Minister Bartlett.

To get a larger spend from the tourist, attention must be given to his consumption pattern, said Mr Bartlett who suggested that hotels should have a consistent supply of Jamaican goods and services for their guests. With the millions of tourists visiting, Minister Bartlett questioned, “whose food are they eating?” and “whose manufactured goods are they consuming?”

He said the Ministry of Tourism was spearheading a strategy arrangement to get Jamaican goods and services to the visitors, with the Linkages Network playing a pivotal role.

The success of the Speed Networking event was lauded by the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association’s President, Omar Robinson and the Jamaica Manufacturers Association President, Metry Seaga who also supported the call for a greater use of Jamaican foods and manufactured goods throughout the tourism sector.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; March 13, 2018: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says that a number of key global personalities and professionals are expressing interest to participate, at a very high level, in structuring the region’s first Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre.

The centre, which was first announced during last year’s staging of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Global Conference, will be tasked with creating, producing and generating toolkits, guidelines and policies to handle the recovery process for states affected by disasters such as earthquakes, cybercrimes and cyber-attacks, terrorism and health issues that are pandemic or epidemic.

The Minister, who is currently in London, met with representatives from Bournemouth University and Jacob Media Group who expressed interest in the concept of the centre.

“I think that the centre will begin as a research and development centre, but it will be strengthened by technical capabilities as well as information and data management and communication,” said Minister Bartlett.

He further noted that “a marketing element is intended also, but the critical area will be ensuring that countries, around the world and particularly the Caribbean, are provided with as many tools, technical information and some levels of funding for mitigation activities and for management systems.”

The centre will be housed at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus and will include a Sustainable Tourism Observatory, which will assist preparedness, management and recovery of crises which impact tourism and threaten economies and livelihoods.

The UNWTO will spearhead with Jamaica the building out of the facility and assist in the solicitation of resources from a number of multilateral partners and other countries that have an interest in resilience building.

Berlin, GERMANY; March 11, 2018: Tourism Minister, the Hon. Edmund Bartlett, on Friday met with the leadership of German based AIDA Cruises to position the historic Port Royal community as a viable cruise option in the near future. AIDA Cruises is now one of eleven brands operated by the Carnival Group, which caters to the German-speaking market and regularly calls in Montego Bay.

The discussion and push to have Port Royal become the next big cruise ship option is very timely, as Jamaica recently contracted the floating pier system, SeaWalk, to be used at historic Port Royal, which will open the opportunity for cruise ships to this destination without negatively impacting its fragile environment.” Minister Bartlett said.

This forms part of the Ministry of Tourism’s overall Cruise marketing, which is a key initiative to strategically boost cruise arrivals.  Cruise Passenger Arrivals grew by 21.3% for the month of January, with 249,690 passengers from 85 cruise ship calls. 

“The rich history of this once powerful city will pull many travellers who are fascinated by its pirate background and charm. Of course the plan now is for smaller vessels, one at a time” - Minister Bartlett added.

Minister Bartlett, who attended ITB Germany, the world’s largest tourism tradeshow, was joined by Director of Tourism, Jamaica Tourist Board, Donovan White and Senior Advisor/Strategist, Delano Seiveright.

Berlin, Germany – March 8, 2018: As Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett’s aggressive European Tourism growth strategy continues to take root, he today confirmed with Eurowings officials that once weekly scheduled nonstop flights between the German city of Munich and Montego Bay, Jamaica will commence on July 18 of this year.

The airline is already aggressively promoting on its website www.eurowings.com fares of between US$500 and US$1,000 for a roundtrip ticket between Germany and Jamaica. Fares are open to everyone including Jamaicans wanting to travel to Europe.

“Munich is one of the largest and wealthiest cities in Europe and capital of the German state of Bavaria, base for some of the biggest companies in the world including BMW, Audi, Puma and Adidas. The state has a population of 13 million and Munich Airport is one of Europe’s busiest hubs with many from neighbouring countries like Switzerland, Austria, Italy and the Czech Republic connecting through there. It is a very important development for Jamaica.” – Bartlett said.

Bartlett is in Berlin, Germany for the ITB global tourism tradeshow, the largest of its kind in the world, attracting around 109,000 visitors and 10,000 exhibitors to trade stands, talks and workshops. He is joined by Director of Tourism, Donovan White; Senior Advisor/ Strategist, Delano Seiveright and European based JTB officials.  

Seiveright noted that, “Jamaica recorded a roughly 44 percent growth in German stopover visitors for 2017 over the previous year, moving from 20,768 to 29,858. Bartlett early last year as part of the European tourism growth plan is pushing for 50,000 German tourists per annum within the next 2 to 3 years. He added that Jamaica received in 2017 a record 325,804 European tourists approximately 31,000 more than the previous year.”

The news comes on the heels of Minister Bartlett’s announcement two days before from Milan, Italy, that that nation’s largest tour operator, Alpitour, owner of leisure airline Neos, is to increase the number of seats into Montego Bay, Jamaica from Italy using a new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft starting May of this year. Laurent Parent, a Senior Executive for Alpitour World confirmed with Bartlett and his team that it will also continue its once weekly flight between the Italian city of Verona and Montego Bay and noted increasing demand for Montego Bay as a vacation spot.

In addition to meeting with travel industry stakeholders in Italy, Bartlett  and his team also met with Campari Group Chairman and Italian Billionaire, Luca Garavoglia, at the multinational giant’s Milan, Italy headquarters as he seeks to develop an innovative marketing and collaborative partnership with the corporate giant that spent over US$500 million in the purchase of J. Wray and Nephew and other investments including US$7.2 million in the Joy Spence Appleton Estate Rum Experience in St. Elizabeth.

In the meantime, Jamaica continues to benefit from two scheduled weekly flights by Eurowings between the German city of Cologne/Bonn and Montego Bay. The additional flight between Munich and Montego Bay will rise to three nonstop flights per week between Germany and Jamaica by Eurowings. Montego Bay also benefits from roughly three weekly charter flights between the German cities of Frankfurt and Munich and Montego Bay by German leisure airline Condor.   

In its promotional literature to German and other Europeans about Montego Bay, Eurowings noted that “Montego Bay (MBJ) offers not only beautiful sand beaches along a golden coast, but also a wealth of lodging, bars, restaurants and shops for every taste. You'll also find sophisticated marinas and world-class golf courses."

KINGSTON, Jamaica; March 06, 2018: Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has expressed deep sadness at the passing of Dittie Guise, General Manager of the Montego Bay Convention Centre.

Guise, who died on Tuesday March 06, 2018, has held various senior roles within the hospitality industry across the globe. She was previously the Chief Operating Officer at the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority; General Manager at SMG-Greater Columbus Convention Center; and President/General Manager at Homkar Inc-Kansas City Market Center.

“The tourism family today mourns the loss of a really outstanding public servant, conference organiser and indeed one of the finest convention centre administrators in these parts. We mourn her passing and wish for her family and loved ones – especially her husband Kenneth, the entire family of SMG, as well as the staff of the Montego Bay Convention Centre – God’s blessing and guidance during this very difficult hour. We hope indeed that her soul will rest in peace,” said Minister Bartlett.

Guise was highly-respected by the staff at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, who have shared that she was very instrumental in the start-up and growth of the facility since April 2011.

“Coming back to Jamaica was in fact for her a great moment of excitement and a great opportunity to give back to her native country. But, more importantly she took pride in managing a facility which is new to this country – we have never had a convention centre of this size magnitude,” said the Minister.

He also lauded Guise’s contribution to the success of the UNWTO, Government of Jamaica and World Bank Group Conference on Jobs and Inclusive Growth: Partnerships for Sustainable Tourism, which was held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre last November.

“The good results that we had last year for the first ever global conference on job creation and inclusive growth and public private partnership, was a full testimony of how much Dittie has done and how far we have come in terms of positioning ourselves as a centre for large events. What she did was to really give a presence to Jamaica as a destination where big meetings, conventions, exhibitions and cerebrations of all kinds, could in fact take place. Thanks to her contribution, we have witnessed how the Convention Centre has morphed into a really spectacular national facility, as well as a global location where big meetings and large events are being held,” he said.