Tourism Minister to hold crucial talks in Europe

Tourism Minister the Hon. Edmund Bartlettis to hold critical discussions with tourism interests as he travels to Europe for several important meetings over the next few days. Minister Bartlett, who had been in Washington D.C. for a number of crucial meetings with key players in the global tourism industry, as he assumes his duties as a member of the Executive Council of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), left the United States for London, England on Sunday March 6.

While in London Minister Bartlett and the Director of Tourism, Mr. John Lynch, are slated to meet with Tour Operators and other players in the tourism industry, from across the United Kingdom. Minister Bartlett outlines that “these meetings are vital to our initiative to boost visitor arrival out of the United Kingdom, which remains a key market for Jamaica. We will be engaging the tour operators who are very important partners in this process to ensure that they can aid in driving the traffic of visitors, to our shores, and in the numbers we would desire.”   

Both gentlemen will then head to Berlin, Germany for another series of official engagements including a crucial meeting with South Africa’s Tourism Minister, Marthinus Van Schalkwyk. Minister Bartlett explains that “my meeting with the South African Tourism Minister is aimed at examining the possibility of opening up air travel between Jamaica and South Africa, in an effort to boost tourism in both countries. Given the historical ties between our nations we believe arranging this type of connectivity would augur well for tourism in both countries and would facilitate easier access to Jamaica for potential visitors in South Africa, thereby making Jamaica even more appealing to them as a destination.”

While in Berlin, Minister Bartlett will also deliver the main address at a seminar being hosted by the Institute of Cultural Diplomacy at the International Tourism Exchange Berlin, where Jamaica will be the focus country. The Tourism Minister will speak on issues including eco-tourism, budget travel, security and the effects of global warming and green technologies on tourism.

Minister Bartlett will also be a speaker at the Pacific Area Travel Writers Association, PATWA, World Tourism Leaders’ Summit. The Minister will then travel to Brussels Belgium, where he will address the ACTS Summit Forum at the European Union Parliament Building where he will address matters relating to Tourism, Aviation and Taxation on March 14.

Minister Bartlett and his team will then head back to London, England for a Jamaica-United Kingdom Investment Forum on March 17, where he is slated to address potential investors, in a bid to secure investment in the local tourism sector. Minister Bartlett returns to the island on March 20.

Issued by: The Ministry of Tourism