KINGSTON, Jamaica; May 31, 2017: Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says Jamaica has submitted its candidature to occupy one of five seats allocated to the Regional Commission of the Americas on the Executive Council of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) for the period 2018 – 2021.

“Jamaica is one of the four English-speaking Caribbean Member States of the UNWTO. So it is quite an honour for us to occupy a position that will have us at the helm of the decision making process of the tourism sector — not only in the region but for member states across the globe,” said Minister Bartlett.

The selection of regional representatives is scheduled to take place during the 61st Meeting of the UNWTO Regional Commission for the Americas in San Salvador, El Salvador, and Roatan, Honduras, May 29 – June 2, 2017.

“The confidence placed in Jamaica internationally puts us in a unique position to reap a number of benefits which will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the people of Jamaica. As a result of this, we have been able to form a number of key partnerships, strengthen linkages with other sectors and witness an increase in investments. I am therefore very confident that if successful, this will undoubtedly be multiplied,” he said.

He noted that he will also use the opportunity to further promote the UNWTO, Government of Jamaica and World Bank Group Conference on Partnerships for Jobs & Inclusive Growth through Sustainable Tourism, which will see the country hosting overseas participants from some 157 countries at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in November of this year.

“The spotlight of the world will be directly on Jamaica and the publicity we will get from this conference is invaluable. More than 800 international and local participants are expected to attend the conference to discuss issues that we hope will result in partnerships for sustainable tourism for development and new investments,” he said.

The Minister left the island yesterday (May 30) and is being accompanied by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Jennifer Griffith. The 61st Meeting of the UNWTO Regional Commission for the Americas meeting will also feature an international seminar on New Technologies Applied to Tourism on June 1 in Roatan, Honduras.

The Minister is expected to return to the island on Sunday, June 4, on the inaugural Southwest Airlines non-stop flight from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to Montego Bay.

Tuesday, May 30, 2017 – Tumon, Guam, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross presented the Guam Visitors Bureau with the President’s “E” Award for Export Service at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., May 22. The President’s “E” Award is the highest recognition any U.S. entity can receive for making a significant contribution to the expansion of U.S. exports.

“The Guam Visitors Bureau has demonstrated a sustained commitment to export expansion. The “E” Awards Committee was very impressed with GVB’s Tourism 2020 strategic plan development and engagement, which resulted in exceptional year-over-year growth in tourism to Guam. The organization’s innovative and broad-reaching program to capture larger segments of the Chinese tourism market was also particularly notable. GVB’s achievements have undoubtedly contributed to national export expansion efforts that support the U.S. economy and create American jobs,” said Secretary Ross in his congratulatory letter to the company announcing its selection as an award recipient.

“The hard workers at GVB are humble, but this really comes at no surprise. It only makes sense that Guam’s tourism officials get national recognition because these folks are at the top of their game in this country. Despite the very rapid increase in the number and quality of tourist destinations in this area, Guam’s market share has sustained and in most cases has even grown. We offer a resort destination that is growing as a second-to-none choice for travelers from a diversifying geographic field. This isn’t a coincidence. This is the result of smart strategy, cooperative development, and an industry of workers who set the standard for quality and service,” said Guam Governor Eddie Calvo.

Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo was present at the awards ceremony and joined GVB Vice President Antonio Muña, Jr. and GVB Director of Global Marketing Pilar Laguaña to receive the award.

“I commend the Guam Visitors Bureau on receiving the President’s “E” Award from the U.S. Department of Commerce,” said Congresswoman Bordallo. “This is the nation’s highest honor recognizing organizations which contribute significantly in the effort to increase U.S. exports. This award is a reflection of GVB’s success in marketing Guam as a world class international destination and the growth in our tourism industry in recent years. I am proud of the success GVB has made to strengthen our visitor industry and attract visitors from new countries to visit and invest in Guam. This is the first time an organization from Guam has received this award, and I congratulate GVB’s management and staff on this accomplishment. I look forward to continue working with them to promote Guam and our vibrant culture to visitors and markets around the world.”

In total, Secretary Ross honored 32 U.S. companies and organizations from across the country with the President’s “E” Award for their role in strengthening the U.S. economy by sharing American ingenuity outside of our borders.

“It is an honor to be the first tourism organization in the United States that received this prestigious award and contribute to the export expansion program of the United States of America. We are proud to represent Guam and accept this award on behalf of our local community and the thousands of people that are working hard in Guam’s number one industry,” said GVB President and CEO Nathan Denight. “As we continue to welcome over 1.5 million visitors annually and evolve as a world class destination, this milestone is a reminder that tourism works to promote our Chamorro culture to the world and better the quality of life for all those that call Guam home.”

U.S. exports totaled $2.21 trillion in 2016, accounting for nearly 12 percent of U.S. gross domestic product. Exports supported an estimated 11.5 million jobs nationwide in 2015, according to the most recent statistics from the International Trade Administration.

Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett will be holding discussions with leading experts in gastronomy at the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism, taking place in Donostia, San Sebastian, Spain, from May 8-9, 2017.  He says these discussions will be vital to the further development of the gastronomy product locally.

“Gastronomy is one of the fastest growing reasons for people to travel. In fact, the international gastronomy market is approximately US$150 billion.  Therefore, as we continue to position Jamaica as an ideal destination for food tourism, through the Tourism Linkages Network, I believe we still have room to grow the market and ensure that every Jamaican can reap the benefits – which is why this forum is important,” said Minister Bartlett.

According to the UNWTO, the Forum on Gastronomy Tourism will provide an opportunity for leading experts in gastronomy tourism to discuss the current situation and challenges in Gastronomy Tourism worldwide, inclusive of areas of management and innovation in the sector.

The forum will be held in a new format, with different events being held in various gastronomy hubs across the Basque Country, showcasing the variation of products offered.

“While the discussions at the forum are of particular interest to me, I am equally pleased that the event will be hosted at the world-renowned Basque Culinary Centre. This is an institution which has a very similar teaching style to what I hope to establish in Jamaica through the Jamaica Centre for Tourism Innovation (JCTI), which we will be establishing in the island next year,” shared Minister Bartlett.

The JCTI will serve to accelerate the transformation of tourism enterprises by engaging institutions and persons to stimulate and initiate new ideas as well as harnessing science and technology to transfer knowledge into practice within the sector.

Much like Basque, the institution will operate like a laboratory where students will get hands-on experience in a modern institution that also offers training to acquire internationally recognized academic credentials and certification.

While in Spain, the Minister will also be attending the the 105th Session of the UNWTO Executive Council, where in his capacity as chairman of the UNWTO’s executive council for affiliates, he will lobby for one of the fiveseats allocated to the Regional Commission of the Americas for the period 2018-2021.

He will also use his trip to conduct a series of promotional activities for the ‘UNWTO, Government of Jamaica and World Bank Group Conference on Jobs & Inclusive Growth: Partnerships for Sustainable Tourism’, which will be held in November at the Montego Bay Convention Centre

The Minister departed the island yesterday (May 06) to attend the gastronomy forum in San Sebastian and was joined by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Jennifer Griffith. He will to return to the island on May 13, 2017.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; April 13, 2017: In an effort to increase international promotion of the upcoming UNWTO, Government of Jamaica and World Bank Group Conference on Jobs & Inclusive Growth: Partnerships for Sustainable Tourism, Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett will travel to Ethiopia, Dubai and Thailand to share the importance of the event and garner potential investors.

While in Thailand, Minister Bartlett will participate in a press conference, scheduled for April 26, 2017, which will be jointly hosted by Dr. Taleb Rifai, Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and a representative from the World Bank Group.

The news briefing will highlight sustainable tourism as a catalyst for national development on an international platform, where key media houses and stakeholders will be present. In addition to discourse on partnerships for sustainable tourism for development, potential investors, donor agencies, the academic community and other tourism stakeholders will be targeted to attend the upcoming global conference, scheduled for November 27–29, 2017, at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.
Minister Bartlett has also been invited to speak at one of the Summit Sessions on April 27 at the World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) 17th Global Summit in Bangkok. The topic of his presentation will be ‘Protecting people and places – can tourism be too much of a good thing?’ He will then meet with Thailand’s Minister of Tourism and the Chairman of the Thai Tourist Promotion Board.
Prior to travelling to Thailand, the Minister who is also the chairman of the UNWTO’s executive council for affiliates, will attend a series of UNWTO meetings and engagements.

He will first travel to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on April 18 to attend the 59th Meeting of the UNWTO Commission for Africa and High-level Meeting on Chinese Outbound Tourism to Africa. He will then travel to United Arab Emirates, Dubai, to attend the 42nd Meeting of the UNWTO Commission for the Middle East and the UNWTO and Arabian Travel Market Ministerial Forum on Tourism’s contribution to sustainable and inclusive economic growth and diversification in the MENA region on April 24.

Two of the expected deliverables from the UNWTO, Government of Jamaica and World Bank Group Conference on Jobs & Inclusive Growth: Partnerships for Sustainable Tourism will be an Outcome Declaration and the publication of the second UNWTO Affiliate Members Global Report on Public-Private-Partnerships. The UNWTO will also present a report to the UN General Assembly in 2018, with regards to the activities of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, of which the conference will play a major role.

The initiative has received the full backing of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and by extension our sister nations within the region. This is of great historical importance because it signals the first time that the UNWTO and its affiliate members will stage a world conference on tourism in the Caribbean or the Americas.

Minister Bartlett is slated to return to Jamaica on April 29, 2017.

FCCA President Michele M. Paige has branded Jamaica as “a jewel” and the ports of Ocho Rios, Falmouth and Montego Bay as among the “best in the world”, while commending initiatives being employed locally to make visitors happy with the experiences available to them on land.

Ms. Page made the comments during a press briefing at the Half Moon Hotel, Montego Bay, recently following two days of stakeholder meetings and port inspections by executives of the FCCA; the Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett; Director of Tourism, Paul Pennicook; Vice President, Cruise Shipping and Marina Operations at the Port Authority of Jamaica, William Tatham; and executives of the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) and the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF).

Citing Jamaica as “our home,” with a partnership spanning over 50 years of cruise ships coming to Jamaica, Ms. Paige said, “this is a new beginning,” in the wake of Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness’ meeting with CEOs in the industry last December and what had been seen over the two days.

“The whole experience in Jamaica is great. Jamaica is an established destination but there have been some impediments. Over the last two days what we’ve experienced is nothing less than amazing; the commitment from Jamaica, the people in Jamaica, they want to get to the next level of being a demand destination, they want to welcome tourists to their home and to show just how special Jamaica is,” she said.

Vice President of Strategic and Commercial Port Development at Carnival Cruise Lines, Carlos Torres de Navarra said the trip felt like “a marriage that has been in place for close to 50 years and it feels like a renewing of vows.”

He said the FCCA team came here with the objective of looking at every destination “and Jamaica has the benefit of having three distinctive ports. Not every country has that; they don’t have that ability to sell the experience of their country at three different points.” He said their intention was “to basically walk the same steps that our guests are walking and give some feedback in terms of what can you do as partners to improve what is the guests experience.”

As a marquee destination that resonated with guests as somewhere to visit at least once in a lifetime, Mr. Navarra said, “the important thing to remember is that people have high expectations and it’s all about delivering on those high expectations because if you got a big gap between that marquee value and what our guests are seeing at the end of the day that’s when you get the disappointment and the reduced demand for what is the Jamaican product.”

Minister Bartlett said Jamaica is seeking to increase cruise arrivals to 2.5 million over the next four years from the 1.66 million recorded in 2016 and was “committed to ensuring the guest experience is not just good, is not just excellent but exceptional.” He said steps had been taken to enable that by building out a discreet institutional arrangement to manage the resort and destination areas and to provide oversight for that management.

He then outlined the change from Resort Boards to Destination Assurance Councils and the appointment of Destination Managers, starting with Falmouth and the allocation of $1 billion to provide a safe and enjoyable environment. This is to be accompanied by a major public education programme to sensitize residents.

Minister Bartlett also invited the FCCA executives to explore employing more Jamaicans in the cruise industry.