Kingston’s emerging status as a cultural powerhouse regionally

Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett is emphasizing the important role the literary and creative arts play in driving success within Jamaica’s tourism sector.

He highlighted the union of Jamaica’s tourism and creative arts, making reference to Kingston’s cultural prominence at last weekend’s 2023 Jamaica Poetry Festival, held at the Louise Bennet Garden Theatre on Hope Road in St. Andrew.

Minister Bartlett underscored Kingston’s emerging status as a cultural powerhouse regionally reiterating his Ministry’s commitment to continue supporting the growth of the local creative industry.

Addressing the gathering, Minister Bartlett remarked, “Tourism is a confluence of moving parts, and our culture, food, music, art and poetry are critical to its overall success. The creative arts and tourism work hand in hand to give visitors unforgettable experiences and keep them coming back. As a result, the tourism ministry is serious about uplifting our creatives and through the Tourism Enhancement Fund and its Linkages Network we have dedicated initiatives to doing just that.”

Festival honourees

The festival was again sponsored by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), event partners for the last two productions. The 13th staging was dubbed the “Arts in Action Edition” and honoured two legendary Jamaicans, who contributed significantly to the global recognition of Jamaican art and culture, Louise “Miss Lou” Bennett-Coverley and Harry Belafonte as well as renowned Lebanese American writer, Khalil Gibran.

The festival was followed an Art and Craft Exhibition and an all-inclusive dinner, dubbed, Visions of Hope. In addition to speaking on the harmonisation of the creative arts and tourism, Minister Bartlett also read an excerpt from his 2022 book “Tourism Resilience and Recovery for Global Sustainability and Development: Navigating COVID-19 and the Future.” 

The book was co-authored with the Executive Director of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC), Professor Lloyd Waller. The Tourism Minister also performed an original poem entitled, “Tourism’s Call, Resilience Siren Song” which explored themes such as the pandemic, adaptability and recovery.

According to the Minister, “I am delighted to be at festivals like these because it gives us a statement to make. I want you to know that you are part of a global market that is now 5 billion US dollars strong – art, culture and music. The projection for the next 15 years is that it will get to 22 billion dollars. My job is to try to bring you into that mix and enable Jamaica to get a piece of that action.” 

This year’s line-up included performances from several notable Jamaicans – Prof. Edward Baugh, Prof. Clinton Hutton, Jean Lowrie-Chin, Boris Gardiner, Dr Winsome Miller-Rowe and event organizer, Yasus Afari, among others. A portion of the proceeds earned will be donated to the Jamaica Society for the Blind to help bolster its programmes and services tailored to improving the well-being of visually impaired Jamaicans.