Minister Bartlett and Other Caribbean Tourism Ministers to Visit Middle East

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, is among Tourism Ministers from the region who will be visiting the Middle East at the end of November.

The visit is to solidify a multi-destination tourism strategy and open the Middle-Eastern market to the Caribbean.

Speaking at a recent press briefing at the offices of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) in Kingston, Minister Bartlett, said that the trip will be the first of its kind for the region’s tourism.

The Minister, who has been integral in coordinating the visit, said that among those who will be making the trip to the Middle East are Ministers of Tourism from The Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, and Cuba, all of whom have already had discussions regarding multi-destination tourism.

“I want to bring in other ministers within the region because our Northern Caribbean represents an important area for multi-destination,” said Minister Bartlett.

The Northern Caribbean convergence includes Jamaica, Cuba, The Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos, Mexico, and Dominican Republic.

Minister Bartlett indicated that Panama will be included, as the country has already signed a multi-destination agreement with countries in the Northern Caribbean.

The Minister further pointed out that air connectivity is at the “heart” of an effective tourism convergence in the Northern Caribbean and in the region in general.

“What we are looking at is a strategy that will connect the Caribbean in full to the far-flung markets of the world. The Middle East represents a lucrative and growing area and one that is of great interest to us,” he noted.

He noted that during the visit, which will also include the leadership of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), there will be discussions with several airline partners.

“We are going to be talking with the four big airlines… Qatar, Etihad, Emirates and Saudia. The idea is to use that connection into the Caribbean through the hub-and-spoke-arrangement. We will hub at one of our islands and then we would distribute from that hub into the various other parts of the Caribbean,” Minister Bartlett explained, noting that the arrangement would be a “game changer for the entire Caribbean and for tourism in general”.