Tourism Action Clubs to Plant Trees for Tourism Awareness Week 

Tourism Action Clubs (TACs) in schools across the island’s six resort areas will be engaged in the planting of trees during Tourism Awareness Week (TAW), which is being observed from September 24-30. 

The exercises, to be carried out in Negril, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, the South Coast [St. Elizabeth, Manchester and Clarendon], Kingston and Port Antonio, are being spearheaded by the Ministry of Tourism in partnership with the Forestry Department.  

Activities begin on Monday (Sept. 25) at the Excelsior High School in Kingston, which is the home of the first TAC in Jamaica. 

Senior Director for Corporate Communications in the Ministry of Tourism, Kingsley Roberts, told JIS News that the initiative is in keeping with the TAW theme: ‘Tourism and Green Investments.’  

It borrows from the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) theme for World Tourism Day on September 27,  which highlights the need to focus on investing in people, planet and prosperity. 

Mr. Roberts noted that the tourism sector depends heavily on the country’s natural assets and as such, it is important “to replenish the resources that we utilise and depend on”. 

“The… handover of trees to young persons for them to plant, take care of and nurture, is aimed at adding to the number of trees we have locally. It also seeks to instill in their minds that we have an important part to play in terms of safeguarding the environment and that speaks to sustainable tourism overall,” said Mr. Roberts. 

The initiative ties in with the National Tree Planting Programme, which is targeted at planting three million trees.