St. Kitts Tourism Authority Hails Jamaica’s Resilience Thrust

• Chief Executive Officer of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority, Ellison Thompson, has commended Jamaica for its robust global tourism resilience thrust. In an interview with JIS News, Mr. Thompson credited Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, for leading the tourism resilience charge in the region.
• “Mr. Bartlett has been very helpful to the whole region in terms of putting together sustainable conferences and ensuring that experts were coming in who can guide us in terms of policy towards moving forward. Jamaica has come up with some very good initiatives, which we are definitely very happy to utilise,” he said. 
• Thompson spoke to JIS News following a press briefing held during the 42nd Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) Caribbean Travel Marketplace event, held recently at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St. James.
• During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jamaica received international attention and acclaim for implementing measures to safeguard the island’s tourism sector. These measures were also credited for the sector’s rapid recovery post-pandemic.
• In 2023, Jamaica successfully lobbied the United Nations to recognise February 17 as Global Tourism Resilience Day. As part of resilience efforts, the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre was also established.
• Meanwhile, Mr. Thompson outlined that the island is putting measures in place to protect the country’s robust tourism sector from future shocks. “Part of what the country is doing is making sure that we are a sustainable island destination. So, we are looking throughout the Caribbean and globally at practices that were implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic that can be utilised now and moving forward. We are also making sure we are prepared for any further disruption in the world,” he highlighted.

(Source: JIS)