September 25 – October 1 is Tourism Awareness Week

‘Rethinking Tourism’ is the theme for this year’s observance of Tourism Awareness Week (TAW), slated for September 25 to October 1.

Speaking during a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think Tank at the Agency’s head office in Kingston on Monday (September 12), Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, said several activities will be held to mark this year’s commemoration, which will incorporate the observance of World Tourism Day on September 27.

“It’s a full week of activities that is being planned with a church service, the virtual Edmund Bartlett lecture series… the launch of an online tourism resource guide, Style Jamaica runway show, a tourism opportunities visionary symposium, a youth forum, a special virtual knowledge forum, and the official launch of the innovation-based tourism incubator,” he noted.

Other activities include daily advertorials highlighting the initiative of the Ministry and the public bodies that fosters innovation in tourism, speaking engagements at schools across Jamaica, a tourism stakeholder engagement activity, and a youth poster competition.
Minister Bartlett informed that the Lecture Series will be streamed from Japan and Jamaica simultaneously.

“We will be coming from the International Press Club in Tokyo and beaming to the entire world. So, the world will see what Jamaica is about in terms of our recovery programmes,” he noted.

The Minister said the theme for the week is indicative of a period for reflection where “we can pause to take a harder look at how we have been making this great industry valuable to our people.”

He said the rethinking of Jamaica’s tourism is guided by the Blue Ocean Strategy, which calls for the creation of business models that depart from traditional ones based on competition and standardisation.