World Tourism is in Jamaica this week. Two years of planning under the leadership of the Hon. Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism, Jamaica, travel and tourism leaders from around the world are meeting at the Montego Bay Convention Center this week.
The Global Conference on Jobs and Inclusive Growth: Partnerships for Sustainable Tourism has many times the importance it had when the Jamaica minister started planning to bring this event to his country.

Today the Caribbean Tourism industry is in a crisis, and Hon. Edmund Bartlett had emerged as the number one leader in becoming a crisis leader for the good of the region.

The Monday program is as follows:

9:00– 9:10am    Introduction of Keynote Speaker
Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism, Jamaica

9:10 – 9:40am               Keynote: The Future of Tourism – Innovation Challenges in the Caribbean Region
Eduardo Fayos-Solá, Senior Adviser, IITS George Washington University

9:40 – 10:15am             Overview Session – The Future of Tourism
Moderator: Lloyd Waller, Senior Advisor to the Minister of Tourism, Ministry of Tourism, Jamaica

• Dionisio D’Aguliar, Minister of Tourism and Aviation for the Bahamas and Chairman, CTO
• Karolin Troubetzkoy, President, CHTA
• Kim Hurtault-Osborne, Executive Secretary for Integral Development, OAS
• Virginia Messina, Director, Caribbean Recovery Taskforce, WTTC
• Carlos Vogeler, Executive Director, UNWTO
• Abel Matutes, Director General, Palladium Hotel Group 

10:30 – 12pm                Concurrent Panel Sessions
Session 1: Tourism and Sustainability – Threats, Risks, Opportunities and Challenges

Moderator: David Jessop, Consultant, Caribbean Council

• Seleni Matus, Executive Director, International Institute of Tourism Studies, George Washington University – ‘Report on the Sustainability of Tourism Destinations in Caribbean’
• Jake Kheel, Vice President, Grupo Puntacana Foundation – ‘The Keys to Sustainable Tourism’
• Gaunette Sinclair-Maragh, Associate Professor, University of Technology – ‘Sustainable Development of Protected Areas for Ecotourism: A Case of the Portland Bight, Jamaica’
• Lisa Indar, Head, Regional Tourism and Health Programme, Caribbean Public Health Agency – ‘Improving Safer, Healthier and Sustainable Tourism through the Regional Tourism and Health Programme’
• Martha Honey, Executive Director, Center for Responsible Travel (CREST) – ‘Lessons Learned from 50 Years from Large Scale Cruise Tourism in the Caribbean’

Session 2: Current Trends in Indigenous Tourism

Moderator: Louis D’Amore, Founder and President, International Institute for Peace through Tourism

• Judy Karwacki, President, Small Planet Consulting
• Casey Vanden Heuvel, Chief Operating Officer, Aboriginal Tourism Association of Canada ATAC
• Susan Otuokon, Executive Director – ‘Indigenous Communities (Maroons) in the Blue and John Crow Mountains’
• Edward Wray, Owner, Rastafari Indigenous Village – ‘Inherent Complexities, Conflicts and Confusions in the Concept of indigenous Tourism; Case Study: ‘The Rastafari Village, Montego Bay’
• Clive Muir, Associate Professor, Rusche College of Business, Stephen F. Austin State University – ‘Anancy’s House: Developing a Folklore Centre to Enhance Rural Tourism’
• Jamie Sweeting, President, Planeterra Foundation

Session 3: Talent Development and Human Capital Trends

Moderator: Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, Former Minister of Tourism for the Bahamas and Former Secretary General of the Caribbean Tourism Organization

• Elizabeth Mackay, MBA BSc., Lecturer, University of the West Indies, Centre for Hotel and Tourism Management, Bahamas; Shaun D. Ingraham, Chief Executive Officer, One Eleuthera Foundation – ‘One Eleuthera Foundation: From Shared Vision to Inclusive Development – Building Partnerships for Sustainable Tourism Development’
• Nigel Cooper, Chairman, College of Business & Management, Consulting Committee and Programme Director, School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of Technology – ‘Is the Caribbean Tourism Market Missing out on Pet Tourism?’
• Elecia Myers – ‘Theocentrism and pro-environmental values in the context of tourism in the Caribbean’
• Auliana Poon, Managing Director/ Director, Tourism Intelligence International/ Tourism Intelligence Academy – ‘Innovation and the Future of Caribbean Tourism’

Session 4: Community Tourism

Moderator: Andrew Spencer, Executive Director, Tourism Product Development Co. Ltd

• Olivene Burke, Lecturer, University of the West Indies Mona; Pauline Milwood, Assistant Professor, Penn State University; Tarik Weekes, Research Officer, Institute for Criminal Justice – ‘Sustainability Community Based Tourism: A Fit for Purpose’ Model for Rural and Urban Enterprises’
• Ian Boxil, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of the West Indies Mona; Deborah Fletcher, Research Associate, Centre for Tourism and Policy Research, University of the West Indies and Majorie Segree, Research Associate, Centre for Tourism and Policy Research, The University of the West Indies – ‘Towards a More Sustainable Tourism in the Historic Town of Falmouth, Jamaica’
• Beverly Stewart, Tourism Specialist, Jamaica Social Investment Fund – Jamaica’s JSIF/World Bank Community Tourism Journey – ‘The Jamaica Social Investment Fund’s Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI)’
• Hugh Hough, President & Founder, Green Team Global Inc – ‘The Wide-Reaching Benefits from the Growth of Community Tourism’
• Christine Marrett, Senior Programme Officer, Office of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor Global Affairs, University of the West Indies – ‘Reflections on the development of The Treasure Beach Destination Management Organisation (DMO) Limited from a cluster development project’ 

12:00 – 1:30pm   Lunch Break with a Keynote Speech: Outlook for Outbound Chinese Tourism in the Caribbean
Xu Jing, Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, UNWTO

1:30 – 3:00pm               Concurrent Panel Sessions
Session 5: Tourism Networks – Creating Linkages, Reducing Leakages
Moderator: Adam Stewart, CEO, Sandals Resort

• Cary Wallace, CEO, Tourism Enhancement Fund
• Anne Crick, Senior Lecturer, Mona School of Business & Management, University of the West Indies Mona; Janet Crick, M.A, Tour & Creative Experience Director, Jamaica Culinary Tours, Falmouth Jamaica – ‘Challenges & Opportunities in Gastronomy Tourism: Finding the Sweet Spot’
• Carolyn Riley, Head, Tourism Linkages Network. Ministry of Tourism and Jamaro Marville, Research Fellow, Centre for Leadership and Governance, University of the West Indies, Mona – ‘A Practical Guide to creating a Model for Health & Wellness, Gastronomy, Sports & Entertainment, Knowledge as well as Sports & Entertainment Tourism: The Jamaican Case Study’
• Lisa Neirotti, Associate Professor & Director, Sports Management Programs & MTA, George Washington University; Paulton Gordon, Director, Community Service and Development, University of Technology – ‘Strategies to Optimize Sports Tourism Opportunities for Sustainable Development in the Caribbean’
• Larisa McBean, Graduate Student, University of Birmingham – ‘Sports Tourism as a Vehicle to Sustainable Development: An investigation into the Opportunities and Challenges to the Development of Sports Tourism in Jamaica’

Session 6: Science, Technology, Innovation in Tourism

Moderator: Trevor Forrest, Senior Advisor to the Minister of Science, Energy and Technology

• Simone Harris, Senior Tourism Network Strategist, Tourism Linkages Network, Ministry of Tourism; Lloyd Laing – ‘Prototype for Smart Attractions in Jamaica: Devon House-One of Jamaica’s celebrated Historic Landmarks’
• Caroline Couret, Founder & Director, Creative Tourism Network – ‘The creative tourism as a lever for the territorial development’ (TBC)
• Pauline Milwood, Assistant Professor, Penn State University; Olivene Burke, Executive Director, Mona Social Services, University of the West Indies Mona; Tarik Weekes, Research Officer, Institute for Criminal Justice – ‘Social Innovation & Development of Urban Spaces: In Search of a Model for Sustainable Tourism’
• Ramona Bavassano, Founder, Jammadda Permacultural Ecovillage, International Consultant on Human Sustainable Development – ‘Jamadda Permacultural Park in Treasure Beach Jamaica’
• Shinique Walters, Gender Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, USAID-CARCEP, ‘Energy conservation in the tourism industry and its impact on sustainable development’

Session 7: Caribbean Tourism within the Context of the Americas
Moderator: Hugh Riley, Secretary General and CEO, CTO

• Allan Fyall, Endowed Professor of Tourism Marketing, University of Central Florida; Roberta Atzori, Assistant Professor, Sustainable Hospitality Management, California State University- Monterey Bay – ‘Rising Sea Levels: Time for Proactive Action in Florida and the Caribbean’
• Chloe Helen Bent – Doctoral Researcher, University of Birmingham – ‘The Cultural Heritage Brand of Treasure Beach: How can we address the need for community consultation?’
• Apirada Chinprateep, Assistant Professor, Department of Development Economics, National Institute of Development Administration – ‘Value Creation of Tourism Sector: In the case of 10 ASEAN Economies, applies to Jamaica’
• Andrea Saayman, Professor, School of Economics, North-West University; Melville Saayman, Research Director, Tourism Research in Economic Environs and Society (TREES), North-West University – ‘Scuba Diving and Sustainable Tourism Developed in a less developed country’

3:00 – 3:30pm  Coffee Break

3:30 – 6:00pm  Special Session on Building Resilience: Supporting Caribbean Tourism to Prepare, Manage and Recover from Crises

Building resilience in the face of natural disasters is both a humanitarian and economic necessity, especially for regions like the Caribbean where tourism is a major source of income and fuels the islands’ economies and societies. Therefore, it is essential for the region to have a functioning crisis preparation, management and recovery process that involves both the public and private sector. This panel will explore potential strategies for the tourism sector in the Caribbean to recover after Hurricane Irma, as well as look toward a long-term plan for future preparation, management and recovery. Furthermore, the importance of the private sector and aid agencies in the recovery process will be discussed, in addition to innovative public-private partnerships (PPPs) essential to building resilience.

 Introduction: Taleb Rifai, Secretary General, UNWTO

 Moderator: Carlos Vogeler, Executive Director, UNWTO

• Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism, Jamaica
• Sandra Carvao, Chief, Communications and Publications, UNWTO
• Hugh Riley, Secretary General and CEO, CTO
• Virginia Messina, Director, Caribbean Recovery Taskforce, WTTC
• Cardigan Connor, Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Anguilla
• Kim Hurtault-Osborne, Executive Secretary for Integral Development, OAS
• Adam Goldstein, Chairman, Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) (TBC)
• Frank Comito, CEO and Director General of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association
• Abel Matutes, Director General, Palladium Hotel Group

Welcome Reception at Montego Bay Convention Centre