Edmund Bartlett also recognised for his civic contribution

Durrant Pate/Contributor

Jamaica’s Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett is one out of 50 new Global Icons of Travel and Tourism.

Bartlett is an ardent proponent of public-private partnerships (PPP), which he considers essential to the sustainable development of the tourism industry. These alliances span the various sectors, locally and internationally, that make up tourism, including transportation, agriculture and manufacturing.

Some of these partnerships have taken the form of foreign direct investment, particularly in the area of accommodation. 

Tourism has been positioned by the minister as a catalyst for economic growth and the transformation of communities. 

In addition to being recognised as a Global Icon of Travel and Tourism, the Jamaican tourism minister has been recognised by the Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA) in Sri Lanka for his wide-ranging expertise and accomplishments in the political arena.

Bartlett among world’s leading tourism ministers

As one of the world’s leading tourism ministers, Bartlett has represented Jamaica regionally and internationally. He served as chairman of the Board of Affiliate Members of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), vice chairman of the UNWTO Executive Council, as well as vice chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO).

He is currently the chair of the Regional Commission of the Americas (CAM), since being appointed in May 2019, and the founder and co-chair of the Global Tourism and Resilience Crisis Management (GTRCM) Centre at the University of the West Indies, Mona. He is the first to serve on the executive of both the public and private sector arms of this prestigious organisation.

This wealth of experience has made him a sought-after speaker at tourism-related fora. He has established five networks to fuel growth and initiated the Tourism Linkages Network within the ministry to strengthen sustainable linkages between tourism and other sectors of the economy. These five networks are Gastronomy, Shopping, Health and Wellness, Sports and Entertainment and Knowledge.

The region has also benefited from the minister’s innovative thinking, as he views the other Caribbean and Latin American destinations not as Jamaica’s competitors but as partners that can use their combined tourism offerings to attract more visitors to experience multi-destination tourism. He has taken steps to have this facilitated under a special memoranda of understanding between nations in the region.

Bartlett conferred numerous awards

Bartlett was awarded Minister of the Year Worldwide by PATWA in March 2018 and Caribbean Tourism Minister of the Year at the Caribbean Travel Awards 2017. Most recently, he received the International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) Champions in Challenge Award at the International Travel Crisis Management Summit (ITCMS) in London in November 2018.

The IIPT awards honour industry leaders who have stood forward in exceptional times of challenge and have made a real difference through their words and their actions. In November 2018, Bartlett was appointed to serve as a member of the board of sitting ministers for the African Tourism Board.

He was also the recipient of the 2016 Caribbean Tourism Minister of Distinction award at the recent African Diaspora World Tourism Awards. In 2016, he was awarded Caribbean’s Leading Personality for Outstanding Services to Tourism at the 23rd World Travel Awards.

In 2012, Bartlett was conferred with membership in the Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander (CD) for outstanding and important services to Jamaica and, in 2010, was conferred with the Commander of Number of the Order of Civil Merit of Spain on the order of the King of Spain.

ACCEPTED AS A TOURISM HERO BY WORLD TOURISM NETWORK

He was officially presented with the 2019 TRAVVY Awards inaugural Chairman’s Award for Global Tourism Innovation for the development of the GTRCMC during the launch of the Centre on January 30 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James.

The minister was applauded by PATWA and awarded as Tourism Minister of the Year (2018) for Sustainable Tourism during the ITB Travel Trade Show in Berlin on March 7, 2019. In 2020, he was accepted as a Tourism Hero by the World Tourism Network at the World Travel Market in London in 2021.

Bartlett has given more than 40 years of service to Jamaica, working both in the Senate and in the House of Representatives. He was first appointed minister of tourism in 2007, serving until December 2011.

While serving in the shadow Cabinet following his first stint as tourism minister, he travelled the world, forging alliances with strategic partners for global initiatives. He returned to the helm of the Ministry of Tourism following the Jamaica Labour Party’s victory in Jamaica’s February 2016 general election.