Attorney-at-law, Kingsley Cooper, has been reappointed to serve as Chairman of the Entertainment Advisory Board, which falls under the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment. Mr. Cooper will head the Board for another two years, from May 2014 to May 2016. His appointment, which was approved by Cabinet, is outlined in a Ministry Paper tabled in  the House of Representatives on...

Newly appointed Poet Laureate, Professor Mervyn Morris, is slated to participate in several engagements in the United Kingdom (UK) later this year. Professor Morris has been invited by the Bristol City Council in England to participate in their annual Yardstick Festival, and Festival of Literature, in October. The Yardstick Festival is a programme of events featuring the work of writers...

Residents in East Rural St. Andrew are benefitting from a 10-year programme of educational development, which should see each household gaining three Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) subjects, and at least one professional over time. Providing details of the plan during his contribution to the 2014/15 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives, on June 10, State Minister for Tourism and...

The Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment is currently in discussion with the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the National Environmental and Planning Agency (NEPA) to utilize the Palisadoes area as Jamaica’s first Entertainment Zone. “This will be a pilot project that, if it works well, will be replicated in other parts of the island,” State Minister, Hon. Damion Crawford said....

The Government will this summer spend $20 million on a number of employment initiatives to benefit some 6,000 youth between the ages of 16 and 25. The programmes, which will begin in early July, are being implemented by: the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF); the Tourism Product Development Company Limited (TPDCO); the National Youth Service (NYS), and the Citizens’ Security and...

Renowned journalist and Managing Director of Marcia Erskine and Associates, Marcia Erskine is the recipient of the 2014 Marcella Martinez award, while freelance journalist, Baz Dreisinger, has received the 2014 Marcia Vickery-Wallace award. The recipients, who were chosen because of their commitment to marketing the Caribbean as a premier travel region, were presented with their awards during the Caribbean Tourism...

Fourteen Caribbean Tourism Ministers and their senior technocrats have been invited by the Government of Spain to participate in a one-week seminar in that country’s capital, Madrid. Spanish Ambassador to Jamaica, Her Excellency Celsa Nuño, says the seminar will expose participants to, among other things, the importance of renewable energy in sustaining and advancing the tourism sector. She made the...