Caribbean News
JAMAICA: Tourism Minister urges Collective Effort to Curb Visitor Harassment
#Jamaica, January 15, 2018 – Montego Bay – Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, has called for a collective effort to curtail visitor harassment in order to safeguard the industry’s gains and surpass the country’s record-breaking outturns achieved in 2017.
“We made history in Jamaica when we welcomed 4.3 million visitors to the island (in 2017). The sector (also generated) approximately US$3 billion in earnings, representing an 11.2 per cent increase (over 2016).
“We cannot afford to reverse the gains we have made and continue to make. This is why it is so important to curb the vexing issue of visitor harassment so that our thriving tourism sector can experience further expansion,” the Minister added. He was speaking at the opening ceremony for a sensitization workshop for parish judges at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St. James on January 13.
Mr. Bartlett said visitor harassment remains an issue for the tourism sector and, such, lauded the workshop’s participants for their interest in being sensitized on the issue and how they can help to curb it. He pointed out that the industry, having soared to levels “beyond our wildest imagination” in 2017, must be “protected at all costs”.
Mr. Bartlett said despite challenges with visitor harassment, recent surveys indicate that up to 60 per cent of tourists are “very satisfied” with the Jamaican experience, with 42 per cent being repeat visitors.
“Our intention is for those numbers to be higher…so we have no room for complacency. The visit should resonate so well with those who land on our soil that they will unhesitatingly give us an A plus rating consistently,” he emphasized.
Mr. Bartlett said, in this regard, industry stakeholders have a pivotal role to play in safeguarding the sector, adding that “we have to be very firm in our pledge to decrease incidents of harassment and, over time, see to its elimination”.
Release: JIS
KINGSTON, April 29 (JIS):
Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, says the outcome of discussions arising from the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) will assist in guiding the Government’s planning for climate change.
This, he points out, is important for climate mitigation as well as building Jamaica’s resilience.
“We look forward to the discussions that will, no doubt, take place. We look forward to the basis of planning for the Government to streamline its investments to ensure you have the tools that you need to better advise us, that the WRA (Water Resources Authority) has the tools to digitise its monitoring network, and that all of the agencies that touch our planning mechanisms have the tools. But we need to know what we are facing, and we’re guided by your expertise,” Minister Samuda said.
He was addressing the opening ceremony for the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in New Kingston on Monday (April 29).
Senator Samuda said given the fact that the climate has changed and continues to do so, investments in and collaborations on building Jamaica’s predictive and scientific capacity must be prioritised.
“Ultimately, we need to be able to assess our current climatic realities if we are to better plan, if we’re to insist and ensure that our infrastructure meets the needs that we need it to. I’m very happy that this event is happening… because this is a critical issue.
“Jamaica, last year, faced its worst and most severe drought… and this year, we’re already seeing the impacts of not quite as severe a drought but, certainly, a drought with severe impacts, especially in the western part of the country,” he said.
Principal Director, Meteorological Service of Jamaica, Evan Thompson, explained that the forum aims to, among other things, establish a collaboration platform for climate services providers and users to understand risks and opportunities of past, present and future climate developments, as well as improve inter-agency coordination of policies, plans and programmes.
Among the other presenters were Ambassador, European Union to Jamaica, Her Excellency Marianne Van Steen; Chief Scientist/Climatologist, Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Adrian Trotman; and Head, Regional Climate Prediction Services, World Meteorological Organization, Wilfran Moufouma-Okia.
The Meteorological Service of Jamaica hosted the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) in partnership with the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology and the World Meteorological Organization.
The National Stakeholder Consultation is a governance mechanism that guides how different sectors or actors work together to create products that contribute to adaptation and resilience-building. It seeks to create a road map for the development and implementation of climate services to inform decision-making.
NCF-1 aims to bridge the gap between climate providers and users. It increases the use of science-based information in decision-making and operations with the aim of generating and delivering co-produced and co-designed products and services.
CONTACT: CHRIS PATTERSON
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