Tourism Stakeholders Buoyed by Success of UNWTO Seminar

With over 200 representatives from the Caribbean private sector, government entities and training institutions in attendance, the third Tourism Outlook Seminar, staged at the Ritz Carlton Golf and Spa Resort in Montego Bay from February 1 to 3 has been declared a success.
The seminar, organised by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), was held under the theme: ‘Challenges, Changes and Opportunities in Tourism: Rising Above the Current Global Economic Landscape’.
Director of Tourism and Chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), John Lynch, was very upbeat at the close of the seminar yesterday, stating that the quality of the event helped to enhance Jamaica’s image and boost local confidence.
“It ended on a very positive note. Our local people were upbeat, the people who came from the Caribbean and even the facilitators, everybody feels a little bit good. Jamaica is looking good, everybody is very positive about Jamaica,” he told JIS News following the closing ceremony.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Jennifer Griffith, said that the event was used to address a wide range of issues affecting the sector. She informed that the wide cross section of stakeholders in attendance were brought up-to-date on cutting edge developments in tourism and how Jamaica is responding to challenges.
She expressed the view that all the individuals, organisations and entities that participated in the three-day event, stood to benefit immensely, as it was an opportunity for them to gather an immense amount of information about best practices in the industry.
Chairman of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), Wayne Cummings, told JIS News that the Tourism Outlook Seminar is an extremely relevant event for stakeholders within the tourist industry, noting that the sharing of experiences is essential.
He said that the event should help participants identify and galvanise certain best practices in the sector.
The purpose of the seminar was to find solutions to current problems and create new and successful strategies for making tourism work in the short and medium-term future.