Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says product diversification by industry stakeholders is pivotal to further boosting Jamaica’s global competitiveness, and successfully tapping into new markets. He told JIS News in a recent interview that international travellers are becoming increasingly demanding and have higher expectations of the destinations they visit or plan to travel. “International tourism trends are showing a shift...

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says the new S Hotel in Montego Bay, St. James, represents the “dawn of a new era” for the city’s business community. Mr. Holness, who was speaking at the hotel’s opening on January 27, said he was confident that the establishment will enhance Montego Bay’s status as a resort city and Jamaica’s tourism...

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, is encouraging hoteliers to tap into the niche market of special needs tourism and provide services to members of the disabled community. Speaking at a recent JIS ‘Think Tank’, the Minister said that some of the small hotels that are not competitive in the landscape could very well morph into specific areas for special...

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says the tourism sector should achieve full compliance with the ban on single-use plastics by the end of this fiscal year (March 31). Mr. Bartlett was speaking at a recent JIS ‘Think Tank’, held at the agency’s headquarters in Kingston. He described the move by the Government to ban some single-use plastics as seminal,...

Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says several key targets have been shortlisted for delivery by the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre over the next six months. These, he said, are: publication of an academic journal on resilience and global disruptions; drafting of a blueprint for resilience; creation of a resilience barometer; and establishment of an Academic Chair for...

Hundreds of local and regional tourism stakeholders will converge at the Montego Bay Convention Centre from January 29 to 31 for 37th Caribbean Travel Marketplace expo. Stakeholders expected to attend the three-day event include: hotel and destination representatives; wholesalers and tour operators; online travel agencies; Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) planners; and members of the media. The expo aims...

The Organization of American States (OAS) has committed a total of US$500,000 to build the resilience of Caribbean small and medium tourism enterprises (SMTEs) to disasters. The project, which is being executed over two years, is funded by the United States Department of State and managed by the OAS Secretariat for Integral Development. Its overarching aim is to reduce the...