Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says the Government is committed to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as they are major contributors to the success of the sector. “The small and medium enterprises are the real drivers [of the industry]. Eighty per cent of the experiences of tourism around the world is driven by SMEs,” he noted....

Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says there is no cause for concern by Jamaicans over the increasing levels of foreign direct investments (FDI) in the country’s tourism industry. “As a tourist resort [destination], we are fortunate to be appealing to the world’s top hotel brands wanting to [invest in and] be part of destination Jamaica,” he said, in a message...

Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, is encouraging employers in the hospitality industry to participate in the proposed workers’ pension scheme, which is slated to come into effect next year.  “Cooperate with us, and work with the workers. We are incentivizing employers to ensure that they contribute their three percent now, and later on, five percent,” Mr. Bartlett said, while reiterating...

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Barlett, says construction of the Artisan Village at the Hampden Wharf in Falmouth, Trelawny, will be completed by the end of next month. The Minister, who spoke to journalists after a tour of the site on October 17, said the project was delayed, “but we have been assured that we will have the facilities completed...

Another 450 hospitality workers, who have been trained and certified by the Jamaica Centre for Tourism Innovation (JCTI), will graduate from the institution on Wednesday (October 16). The ceremony is slated for the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St. James, and will total number of persons graduating, since the facility was established in 2017, to some 640, Tourism Minister, Hon....

Local and overseas tourism and environment stakeholders are now in Jamaica for the second Tourism Resilience Summit of the Americas, now under way at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Regional Headquarters in St. Andrew. The two-day event, which opened on Wednesday (October 9), is being jointly hosted by the UWI and Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre...

National Security Minister, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, says Jamaica’s world-class attractions have been pivotal in positioning the island as a prominent global tourism destination. Dr. Chang said attractions such as Dunn’s River Falls, continue to be among the biggest pulls for cruise and stopover visitors, noting that it has emerged as one of, if not the biggest of its kind...