Tourism Outlook Seminar 2016 to Focus on Navigating Global Changes to Drive Growth

October 28, 2016October 29, 2016 News Room

Preferred airline partner for the upcoming Tourism Outlook Seminar, Caribbean Airlines presented two lucky winners with airline tickets at the official launch event on October 27, 2016. Here, Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett (centre) is seen selecting the winners with the assistance of (from left) Director of Tourism, Paul Pennicook; Caribbean Airlines Pilot, Emmil Green; Acting General Manager, Caribbean Airlines, Trudy Chin; In-flight Manager, Hope Stewart; and flight attendants Marsha-Gaye Greaves; and Nyasha Davidson. The Tourism Outlook Seminar is a forum for national and regional tourism policy makers and stakeholders to share ideas, network, examine best practices and discuss strategies for advancing Caribbean tourism. It will be held from December 6-8, 2016 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; October 28, 2016: Minister of Tourism Hon. Edmund Bartlett is urging his fellow Ministers of Tourism and other tourism partners across the region to use the forum which will be provided at the upcoming Tourism Outlook Seminar (TOS) 2016 to develop a model that will drive growth in regional tourism, despite numerous global challenges.

Speaking at the press launch for the event on October 27, 2016, at Kingston’s iconic Devon House, Minister Bartlett outlined that while tourism is undoubtedly one of the world’s largest and fastest growing sectors it faces many complex challenges. These include terrorism, pandemics, natural disasters, catastrophes, economic uncertainty in source markets and the ever-changing demands of travelers; all of which pose serious threats to the sustainable growth of tourism.

He emphasized that TOS 2016, which is slated for December 6-8 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, will provide the ideal opportunity for national and regional tourism policy makers and stakeholders to examine these and other issues and discuss ways to address them in order to foster continued growth.

“The seminar will also look at how we in the Northern Caribbean space can develop a model that is going to make us grow at rates that are higher than the current position – because the Caribbean is arguably the slowest growing destination in world tourism,” said Minister Bartlett.

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett (centre) shares a light moment with (from left) Chairman of the Tourism Enhancement Fund, Godfrey Dyer, Acting General Manager of Caribbean Airlines, Trudy Chin, EXIM Bank’s Manager, Trade Financing & Risk Management Valerie Crawford and Director of Tourism, Paul Pennicook. The occasion was the launch of the Tourism Outlook Seminar 2016 at the historic Devon House in Kingston, on October 27, 2016. The Tourism Outlook Seminar is a forum for national and regional tourism policy makers and stakeholders to share ideas, network, examine best practices and discuss strategies for advancing Caribbean tourism. It will be held from December 6-8, 2016 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.

“At the seminar, I will be hosting a Summit of Tourism Ministers from the region. We are going to discuss how we can change the game from the highly competitive tourism strategies that have not given us growth, to a new more collaborative approach. We have extended invitations to tourism ministers from the Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago and the Cayman Islands,” Minister Bartlett added.

The event will be held under the theme: ‘Tourism: Navigating Global Changes for Continued Growth’. This year’s staging is being hosted by the Ministry of Tourism and the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) in collaboration with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The seminar is being funded by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF).

It will see contributions from global experts on critical topics, such as managing communications in the face of issues such as pandemics, terrorism and natural disasters; establishing multi-destination tourism; travel facilitation and connectivity and packaging destination experiences among other topics.

TOS 2016 will feature presenters and panellists from renowned local and international organizations, such as: the UNWTO, Airbnb; TUI; Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health; the World Travel & Tourism Council; the Caribbean Tourism Organization; the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA); and Sandals Resorts International.
The Minister also announced that Caribbean Airlines has thrown its support behind the initiative and is the preferred airline partner for the seminar.

Registration for the event is already open. Persons are being encouraged to register online and access additional information at www.visitjamaica.com/tourismseminar .

“I encourage everyone – policy makers, representatives of government ministries and agencies, hotel owners and senior managers, investors, academics, airline executives, travel agents, travel media, tour operators and other business partners – to go to the JTB website and register for TOS 2016 today,” Minister Bartlett emphasized.

Commentary

We endorse this Tourism Outlook Seminar (TOS) and will make every effort to attend. Earnings from an enhanced tourism product will greatly benefit not only the tourism as a product but the national economy as a whole.

Bank of Jamaica govenor Brian Wynter is on record as saying our foreign currency reserves will soon be showing a surplus. This surplus will positively impact the strength of the Jamaican dollar which in 1975/6 was stronger than the American dollar. In other words it took more US dollars to buy one Jamaican dollar. I saw this first hand.

A brighter future awaits the tourism sector with a prosperous outlook to be experienced under Minister Bartlett’s dynamic leadership.

Commentary is by Hopeton O’Connor-Dennie who is Senior International Correspondent & photojournalist for Vision Newspaper Canada.