Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Dr. Taleb Rifai, says a resilience recovery centre will be established in the Caribbean. Dr. Rifai, who was addressing a special session of the UNWTO Global Conference at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, St. James, on Monday (November 27), said the centre will be tasked with creating, producing and generating...

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says it is critical that the region get the necessary support to enable it to effectively prepare, manage and recover from natural disasters. He noted that resilience against hurricanes, earthquakes and other disasters is important in protecting the tourism product on which the people of the region are so heavily dependent. He was speaking...

Tourism Specialist at the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), Beverly Stewart, says the agency, through its Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI), is empowering Jamaicans to capitalise on the prospects in community-based tourism. She noted that the area is fast outpacing sun, sea and sand travel. “Experiential tourism… is growing at 15-20 per cent while sun, sea and sand is only...

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says travellers today are a lot more sophisticated and are expecting more for their tourism dollars. Mr. Holness, who was giving the keynote address at the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Global Conference on Jobs and Inclusive Growth at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St. James on November 28, added that...

Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Dr. Taleb Rifai, says there must be more interconnectedness between visitors and residents of communities, in order to achieve greater community empowerment. He also suggested that there must be a “lowering of the walls between the host communities and the visitors”, in order to achieve that goal. “We cannot continue...

The National Export-Import Bank of Jamaica (EXIM Bank) is reporting that its small and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMTEs) loan scheme has been a success with strong take-up by players in the sector. The $1-billion facility, launched last September through financing from the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), enables industry stakeholders to access between $5 million and $25 million to upgrade and...

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says unless the issue of disaster risk management and mitigation is seriously addressed, the Caribbean will not be able to maximise its potential as a global force in tourism. “More than any other time in our past, tourism authorities in the region must now seriously address the issue of disaster risk management and mitigation,”...