The return of direct flights from Italy is being hailed by local stakeholders as a major boost for air connectivity out of Europe and for the upcoming winter tourist season. "The addition of these direct flights speaks to the confidence our airline partners have of the destination,” Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, told JIS News. Government officials, attraction and...

Unemployed persons interested in working in the tourism industry are being encouraged to take advantage of free certification being offered through the Job Readiness Programme.   The programme, being implemented by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) in collaboration with the HEART/NSTA Trust and American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI), aims to attract between 5,000 and 6,000 persons for training and...

The impending inaugural visit on December 1 by the world’s largest cruise ship, the ‘Wonder of the Seas’, has heightened local stakeholders’ optimism about the prospect of a positive 2022/23 winter tourist season, especially for cruise shipping. Executive Director of Jamaica Vacations (JamVac), Joy Roberts, says Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s decision to send their Oasis-class vessels to the island is...

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says Jamaica has recovered from its COVID-19 downturn in all major markets to where a record 283,000 airline seats are now expected out of Canada for the upcoming winter tourist season. Mr. Bartlett, who is currently in Canada meeting with travel partners and other tourism interests, said it is an “amazing” reversal of fortune...

Mount Alvernia Preparatory School in St. James and Naggo Head Primary School in St. Catherine will face off in the finals of the third staging of the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) Tourism Quiz on Sunday, November 13. The match will be aired on Television Jamaica, beginning at 3:00 pm. Coordinator, Corporate Communications and Community Awareness, TPDCo, Marline Stephenson Dalley,...

Regional Director at the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), Odette Soberam-Dyer, says Kingston is growing as a tourist destination and lauded Frontier Airlines for helping to push that growth. Speaking with journalists on November 7, on the arrival of passengers from the airline’s inaugural flight from Atlanta in the United States (US) to Kingston, the JTB official said, “It is a...

Newly elected President of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), Robin Russell, is imploring Jamaicans to tap into their creative genius to create products that will entice tourists to spend more locally. He said that while the sector continues to see unprecedented levels of growth in arrivals and revenue, more needs to be done to ensure that the country...