WASHINGTON, DC– Jamaica’s Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has warned that regardless of tourism getting 1 of the most important contributors to worldwide output – delivering jobs, incomes and livelihoods for millions of persons – the sector remains susceptible to external shocks and crises, such as all-natural disasters, financial downturns, and pandemics.
Jamaica’s Tourism Minister and Chairman of the Inter-American Committee on Tourism (CITUR) in Washington, DC Edmund Bartlett delivers opening remarks at the Fifth Unique Meeting of the Inter-American Committee on Tourism (CITUR) in Washington DC, on April 14, at the Organization of American States. Seated from left are OAS Cultural and Tourism Chief Richard Campbell OAS Executive Secretary for Integral Improvement Kim Osbourne and Spain’s Permanent Observer to the OAS, Carmen Monton. (Photo Derrick Scott.)
Chairing the Fifth Unique Meeting of the Inter-American Committee on Tourism (CITUR) at the Organization of American States (OAS) headquarters in Washington DC, on April 14th, 2023, Minister Bartlett pointed out that creating tourism resilience was essential to guaranteeing the sector’s sustainability and its contribution to the economy.
“As the sector continues its recovery, it is essential that we acknowledge the significance of placing persons 1st, investing in persons and creating the ideal capabilities as essential components of creating tourism resilience more than time. It is necessary to train and educate the workforce to be adaptable to altering situations, such as new technologies and evolving client preferences,” he mentioned.
“Tourism ought to also prioritize producing a workforce that reflects the communities it serves to provide each an enhanced solution, as properly as to accrue additional advantages to a broader variety of stakeholders in the tourism worth chain,” Bartlett continued.
Resilient Tourism
The Jamaican tourism minister pointed out that “as member states in the OAS loved ones, we ought to recognize the nexus amongst resilience and sustainable improvement, and tourism’s part in it. A resilient tourism ought to operate in a way that protects the atmosphere and supports neighborhood communities, like, smaller and medium-size tourism enterprises, even though at the similar time guaranteeing financial viability.”
“Moreover, it is essential that tourism practices improve the sector’s resilience, producing it superior equipped to withstand crises, even though contributing to extended term sustainability.”
“As a area, we have to position ourselves to take benefit of emerging technologies and to superior use the accessible science and information to inform choice-producing, specifically in relation to creating tourism resilience,” Mr. Bartlett declared.”