Inaugural Jamaica Conference Invests in Caribbean Tourism – TravelPulse

Edmund Bartlett, Jamaicas minister of tourism. (photo by Brian Major)

Jamaicas Ministry of Tourism is partnering with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and international financial organizations, including the World Bank Group, to host a novel conference organizers hope will result in innovative strategies to expand Caribbean tourism.

Announced by Caribbean government and tourism officials at a press briefing Wednesday in New York, the inaugural UNWTO, Government of Jamaica and World Bank Group Conference on Jobs & Inclusive Growth: Partnership for Sustainable Tourism event will be held November 27 to 29 at Jamaicas Montego Bay Convention Center.

The first-ever gathering will bring regional destinations together with Caribbean tourism groups that include the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), plus international development banks, non-profit organizations, academic groups and hotel and cruise industry officials.

The conference will address methods to attract increased tourism investment to Caribbean destinations while formulating policies through which communities will better retain and benefit from tourism expenditures, noted Edmund Bartlett, Jamaicas tourism minister.

The event will be the first UNWTO conference to take place in the Caribbean and coincides with the organizations year-long focus on international sustainable tourism development, said Paul Pennicook, Jamaicas director of the Jamaica Tourist Board.

Among several Caribbean officials to refer to the region as the worlds most tourism-reliant, Bartlett said countries in the region have the worlds highest proportion of total employment and percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) derived from tourism.

It is estimated that one in every four [Caribbean] persons is employed by tourism-related activities, and the sector accounts for 41 percent of all exports and services and 31 percent of all gross domestic product, he added.

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Bartlett also outlined the tourism industrys growing global significance: Global travel employs 10 percent of global labor. That means one in every 10 people working in the world is working in tourism. 1.2 billion people traveled globally in 2016, spending $1.3 trillion and 30 percent of world trade is in tourism.

Yet, Caribbean destinations have largely failed to retain tourism expenditures, Bartlett lamented. Thus the conference will focus on building linkages in our communities to capitalize on tourism dollars.

Bartlett said 80 percent of global tourism operations are run by small and medium-sized businesses.

If tourism is to be an economic driver, we have to improve in our retention of the proceeds, he said.

Bartlett said the conference themes will include tourism and sustainability; threats, risks and challenges; the strengthening of human capital; tourism value chain linkages and technology and innovation.

He added that the gathering will culminate in the formulation of a Montego Bay Declaration, which will provide an action plan for tourism destinations to follow.

The Montego Bay Declaration will contribute to a UNWTO global report on public-private partnerships. The conference will also feature the presentation of Caribbean Legend Awards to individuals that have made an indelible mark on the tourism industry, enhancing the Caribbean brand, Bartlett said.

Because we are the most tourism-reliant region of the world, we have to be the most tourism-competent, said Riley of CTO. We have to care more about the quality of the experience of the people who visit.

Matt Cooper, CHTAs chief marketing officer, noted Caribbean hoteliers operate in the worlds highest-cost region based on electricity rates and access to water.

Sustainability to us is a matter of practicality and survival, he said.

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Inaugural Jamaica Conference Invests in Caribbean Tourism - TravelPulse