Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says the targets under the 5x5x5 plan are way ahead of schedule, placing the sector on an unprecedented growth path. The five-year growth targets, set in 2016, are aimed at attracting five million tourists, generating US$5 billion in earnings, and increasing total direct employment to 125,000, while adding 15,000 rooms. “In only three years,...

Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, has hailed the owners of the Spanish hotel chain, RIU Resorts, for the growing expansion and continued investment in Jamaica. RIU has pumped over J$11 billion (US$85 million) into the renovation of its Ocho Rios property in St. Ann, including the building of a state-of-the-art water park, making the hotel chain one of the largest...

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....