Big Plans for Jamaica’s Tourism Minister in the UK and the Middle East

• Following his highly successful markets blitz in North America, Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett left the island yesterday, accompanied by a high-level team to explore investment opportunities and trump up tourism travel to Jamaica from the United Kingdom (UK) and the Middle East.
• Prior to his departure, Minister Bartlett said, “As we seek to accelerate the recovery of the tourism industry, I will be leading a delegation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom to explore opportunities for foreign direct investment (FDI) in our tourism sector as well as shore up arrivals from our third largest source market.”  
• He said investment would play a critical role in tourism recovery by providing the funds necessary to construct and upgrade projects essential to the development and growth of tourism capacity.

The blitz starts with targeting the travel market at the Dubai World Expo 2020 in the United Arab Emirates. Jamaica is among the more than 190 exhibitors at the expo with a pavilion highlighting the destination’s latest products and innovations under the theme “Jamaica Makes it Move”, connecting the world through its unique music, food, sports, and other aspects of its rich heritage.

While in the UAE, Minister and his team will meet with the country’s Tourism Authority to discuss collaboration on tourism investment from the region; Middle East tourism initiatives; and gateway access for North Africa and Asia, and facilitation of airlift. Also, there will be meetings with executives of DNATA Tours, the single largest tour operator in the UAE; members of the Jamaican Diaspora in the UAE; and three major Airlines in the Middle East – Emirates, Ethiad and Qatar.

From the UAE, Minister Bartlett will head to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he will speak at the 5^th Anniversary of the Future Investment Initiative (FII). This year’s FII will include in-depth conversations about new global investment opportunities, analysis of industry trends, and unparalleled networking among CEOs, world leaders, and experts. He will be joined by Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill in his capacity as Minister Without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation (MEGJC), with responsibility for Water, Land, Business Process Outsourcing (BPOs), the Special Economic Zone Authority of Jamaica and special projects.

The recent lifting of the UK Government’s advisory against all non-essential travel to Jamaica has paved the way for Minister Bartlett to lead a high-level team to London, October 30 to November 6, targeting the UK market. Key stakeholder engagements will be held with Virgin Atlantic, China Forum and British Airways at World Travel Market London (WTM), one of the most important annual meetings for the international travel sector.

Also, the tourism minister will be a special guest at the 9^th Advocacy Dinner of the Pacific Asia Travel Association. In continuation of his international responsibilities, he will also participate in a UN World Tourism Organization, World Travel and Tourism Council and WTM Ministers’ Summit.

The packed itinerary also includes media interviews, speaking engagements at City Nation Place Global Conference in London, a board meeting of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC), and a meeting with the Jamaican Diaspora community in the UK.