UNWTO conference to highlight Caribbean tourism

The Caribbean tourism industry will take center stage during
day one of the UNWTO global conference on jobs and sustainable tourism
partnerships to be held in Jamaica on Nov. 27-29 at the Montego Bay Conference
Center.

Titled “The UNWTO, Government of Jamaica and World Bank
Group Conference on Jobs Inclusive Growth: Partnerships for Sustainable
Tourism,” the gathering is the first UNWTO event to take place in the
Caribbean and coincides with the UNWTO’s year-long focus on international
sustainable tourism development.

“The conference program, although global in nature, is
highly significant to the Caribbean and therefore, we felt we should
incorporate a program specific to the Caribbean and some of the issues we
grapple with,” said Edmund Bartlett, Jamaica’s minister of tourism.

Bartlett pointed out that tourism is the single largest
generator of foreign exchange in 16 of the 28 countries in the Caribbean and
the sector receiving the most foreign direct investment.

It is estimated that one in every four persons in the
Caribbean is employed by tourism-related activities. The sector accounts for
41% of all exports and services in the Caribbean and 31% of all gross domestic
product, according to the tourism minister.

“It is important that the conference provide solutions
as to how the Caribbean can build linkages to help the region better leverage
and retain tourism expenditures,” Bartlett said. 

The conference will conclude with the formation of the
Montego Bay Declaration, described by Bartlett as “an action plan for
tourism destinations to follow” that will be incorporated into the second
volume of the UNTWO Global Report on Public Private Partnerships.