The Emerging Superstar on World Tourism shares his 2020 vision for Jamaica Tourism

Minister Bartlett extends sympathy to owners of Richmond Hill Inn
Jamaica's Tourism Minister Hon. Edmund Bartlett
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The Hon. Edmund Bartlett is not only the Jamaican Minister of Tourism but has shown his talent far beyond his countries borders. Bartlett traveled the planet and shared his views and leadership with many travel and tourism leaders around the world.ย  eTurboNews decided to give the Hon. Minister Edmund Bartlett the title of the new emerging superstar for World Tourism.ย 

As the man behind the Global Tourism Resilience & Crisis Management Centre, the person leading the UNWTO Regional Commission for the Americas,ย  the Jamaica minister has been seen joining initiatives everywhere on the globe, becoming a board member of the African Tourism Board and putting his country on the map on so many levels, and at so many different places.

Not only at home, but he also addressed challenges face on, shared his opinion in speaking at events, on panels and with political leaders everywhere. At the same time, he remained as one of the most accessible ministers, well respected by world leaders and his constituents in Montego Bay.

Minister Edmund Barlett released this New Year’s Day Message for Jamaica:

As the new year and a new decade dawns, we reflect on a successful year for tourism at the global, regional and local levels.

Tourism continued to outpace global economic growth, contributing at least 9% to the global domestic product while providing decent, equitable and inclusive jobs for Jamaicans. Despite the challenges presented by dynamic market and trends, extreme weather events and other disruptive elements to the tourism product, we maintained our planned trajectory by welcoming over 3.4 million visitors to our shores earning over US$3.1 billion. We are on target to earn US$5 billion and host 5 million visitors by the year 2021.

This achievement rests on the shoulders of our partners and stakeholders whose support was indispensable to the process. I am grateful for the team that is Tourism Jamaica at the Ministry, its agencies and all our partners and stakeholders for their contribution and look forward to enhancing these partnerships in the coming year and decade.

The reward for good work is more work and these partnerships will be even more important to advancing our vision and mission of seamless, safety, security and sustainability for the coming year as we implement several key initiatives such as the historic tourism pension scheme; the artisan village in Trelawny; expansion of markets into Asia; additional room stocks for tourists and housing solutions for tourism workers and continued investment in human capital.

Strengthening the resource and systematic linkages that undergird Jamaicaโ€™s economic development and tourismโ€™s success will continue to serve as an underlying theme in the re-imagining of the tourism product. All portfolios, departments, communities must be successful to count any success as real and sustainable.

Sustainable development for the industry and wider economy is predicated on an enabling environment for growth and resilient people, systems, processes, and the environment. To this end, I look forward to opening the doors, in January, to the first Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre which will be housed at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus.

Tourism has served and will continue to serve as an excellent arm of public diplomacy. Jamaicans, including in the Diaspora, are the on-the-ground and brand ambassadors for our beautiful island as we often are the first point of reference for authentic Jamaica to visitors. We must discharge this responsibility and honor with pride.

In a similar vein, tourism diplomacy is an important contributor to bolstering the ties that characterize traditional bilateral relations and it is my intention, particularly as the current Chairman of the Commission of the Americas in the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) to harness this opportunity to maintain Jamaicaโ€™s personality as a key partner in international relations and to seek innovative and creative ways to build on this legacy.

To this end, Jamaica will host the first UNWTO Global Summit on Innovation and Resilience in May 2020 as well as the 65th meeting of the Regional Commission for the Americas

2020 is the year of continued growth, innovation, resilience, and sustainability!

Run with us on this journey to strengthen the heartbeat of the world โ€“ Jamaica.

About the author

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Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen Thomas Steinmetz has continuously worked in the travel and tourism industry since he was a teenager in Germany (1977).
He founded eTurboNews in 1999 as the first online newsletter for the global travel tourism industry.

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