Tourism Awareness Week to Focus on Linkages Hub

This year’s Tourism Awareness Week celebrations will focus on the Tourism Linkages Hub, as the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment highlights the various businesses that support the sector.

The week will be observed from World Tourism Day on September 27 to October 3 under the theme: ‘One Billion Tourists: One Billion Opportunities’. This is also the theme that the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has chosen for World Tourism Day.

Addressing a JIS Think Tank on Wednesday (September 23), Project Manager for the Tourism Linkages Hub, Carolyn McDonald-Riley, said the week will draw attention to the work of the hub in creating opportunities for local businesses through manufacturing, agriculture, entertainment and the service sector.

“Coming on the heels of the just concluded JAPEX (Jamaica Product Exchange), the Ministry would like to continue creating the opportunities to strengthen the local sector’s ability to provide the tourism industry with the inputs that they use,” she said.

Executive Director of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), Clyde Harrison, who also addressed the Think Tank, noted that as the number one foreign exchange earner, tourism, has made a significant contribution to Jamaica’s economy.

“It is an industry that is tied into so many other industries, so we have to look at it holistically and look at the contribution in its entirety because it presents a lot of opportunities for all other business sectors,” Mr. Harrison said.

Activities for the week will include the launch of social media competition on Sunday (September 27), where persons will have the opportunity to win prizes. A special poster and essay competition will also be held.

The Jamaica Tourist Board’s (JTB) 60^th anniversary exhibition and public lecture will take place at the Kingston and St. Andrew Parish Library on Thursday (October 1), and on Friday (October 2), the Tourism Ministry will host a special Experience Jamaica/Tourism Linkages Hub Expo at its offices at 64 Knutsford Boulevard, where several local businesses will display their products and services.

The World Tourism Day theme emphasises the fact that the tourism sector has grown significantly over the decades and will continue to positively impact global development.

It also seeks to raise awareness among decision-makers and the general public of tourism’s global socio-economic impact and its capability to drive positive change in countries, communities and, ultimately, people’s lives across the world.

In 2012, international tourist arrivals passed the one billion mark for the first time in a single year, and the UNWTO forecasts that the figures will reach the two billion mark by 2030.