Home

Africa looks to Jamaica for Tourism Guidance

Africa looks to Jamaica for tourism guidance and diplomacy Jamaica is strengthening its diplomatic relations with African countries, taking tourism to the top of the agenda among key areas for cooperation. Diplomatic relations between Jamaica and Africa now covers about 19 African states in Southern and Eastern Africa. In its plan to extend and strengthen its relations to African states, the Jamaican government had […] - eTurboNews | Trends | Travel News

Jamaica is strengthening its diplomatic relations with African countries, taking tourism to the top of the agenda among key areas for cooperation.

Diplomatic relations between Jamaica and Africa now covers about 19 African states in Southern and Eastern Africa. In its plan to extend and strengthen its relations to African states, the Jamaican government had accredited Madam Angela Veronica Comfort to represent Jamaica in Tanzania.

Lf. to Rt. Bobi Wine and Nubian Li

Photo Caption: Lf. to Rt. Bobi Wine and Nubian Li | Photo Credit: Steve James Reggaeville

Bobi Wine, Robert Kyagulanyi, AKA Ghetto President, returned to Jamaica’s Rebel Salute in 2020 with a passionate message to engage the African Diaspora in his struggle to free Uganda. He used the opportunity to thank the reggae fraternity, Morgan Heritage, Queen Ifrica and others for rescuing him from persecution. He also thanked the Jamaican people for their support.

A revolutionary singer and politician, Bobi Wine’s recent visit to Jamaica to perform on the Rebel Salute “UN” stage, was most remarkable and memorable. He captivated the Rebel Salute audience, using the power of Reggae music and its legendary status as freedom music popularized by Bob Marley, while at the same time sending his message back to the People of Uganda. Singing in his native tongue and in English, Wine sent the message through the music and its pulsating rhythm. He credited Sting, Reggae Sunsplash for accessibility to the artistes who influenced his music while growing up.

Source Skift.Com - 

The latest perk hotels are offering guests: flexible check-in and check-out. Some charge a fee. But some are granting it for free. It’s an interesting play to attract more loyal customers who will book directly with the hotels and not with online travel agencies.

Travel and tourism is booming – but the combination of cheaper travel and few tourist barriers could be creating unsustainable demand that pushing the sector towards a tipping point.

The World Economic Forum has released its latest Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report (TTCR) that ranks 140 countries on their relative strengths in tourism and travel.

The study found that international tourist arrivals surpassed 1,4-billion in 2018, beating predictions by two years – and potentially hastening the tipping point.

PETITION:

July 31, 2019. A member of the Rastafari community, Robert Lee Young, popularly known as Changa Changa, was walking along a section of Kent Avenue in Montego Bay, when he was approached by two policemen. One of the policemen asked him for a search, to which he obliged. After the search by the police officers turned up nothing illegal, they asked him for a strip search which he vehemently refused. The policemen manhandled him, then arrested him and took him to the Barnett Street Police Station where he was charged for assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. When he was being released on bail, he was reminded by the police that his court appearance dress code on July 31, 2019 should conform to normal attire instead of the banana bark in which is his usual attired. The action of the police in this case is a stark reminder of the human rights abuses that were meted out to members of the Rastafari community during the State-sponsored atrocities of 1963. Rastafari Coral Gardens Benevolent Society has been at the forefront advocating for such atrocities to stop and that the constitutional and human rights of members of the Rastafari community be respected by agents of the State.

We therefore DEMAND that: 1. All charges against Robert Lee Young, aka Changa Changa be dropped. 2. Targeting, searching, arresting and detaining Rastafari individuals must stop. 3. State and societal prejudices, discrimination and harassment of members of the Rastafari community, especially by the police, must stop. 4. Police stop regarding and portraying Rastafari as criminals. 5. Our sovereign rights as Rastafari be acknowledged as is the case at the United Nations.

CAPTION: Acting CTO SG Neil Walters made the call in an address in Grenada~

CTO’s acting secretary general Neil Walters addresses the Grenada Tourism Authority’s awards ceremony 

St John's, Antigua (July 09, 2019) - The Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority’s new #WhatCoolLooksLike summer promotion allows travellers to Antigua and Barbuda to benefit from exceptional savings on some of the destination’s top accommodations, excursions, restaurants and attractions, when they visit Antigua and Barbuda this summer.

Visitors are invited to take advantage of these cool and exciting summer experiences on offer in Antigua and Barbuda, during the campaign period from May 1 – October 31, 2019:

Catherine’s Café Summer Special

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (3 July 2019) – The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) is creating a plan for systematic development of community-based tourism as a viable niche and will present the details during the upcoming Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development.

The event, otherwise known as the Sustainable Tourism Conference (#STC2019), is scheduled for 26-29 Aug. 2019 at the Beachcombers Hotel in St. Vincent and is organised by CTO in partnership with the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority (SVGTA).

At a general session titled “Community-based Tourism Driving Tourism Innovations and Experiences” scheduled 11:30 a.m. on 27 August, delegates will be presented with robust market research that encapsulates visitors’ willingness to pay for innovative tourism experiences across the Caribbean. The session will also delve into how community tourism supports product diversification and differentiation and can enhance community participation in tourism, with the ultimate benefit being the creation of a distinctive and responsible tourism brand.

Entertainer Mackie conscious (Dennis McKay) who is currently climbing the charts in the USA thinks it better to give than to receive. Before receiving a Dollar from his pending hit single he is embarking on an Inspirational and motivational School tour all across Jamaica and around the World.

This tour is free to all schools and will take not more than 15 minutes of their devotion/assembly time for the Artiste to give a word of motivation and present the lyrics inspiring them to do as the song says: “Follow your dreams, believe in yourself, your goals you must achieve”.

Mr. Conscious believes bending the tree before they grow is the solution, hence he will be taking the message to the children to make the difference Jamaica needs. For too long the youth have been negatively influenced by some of the music, now it’s time to shift the focus to have them believing that they can be spoken about in the next 40 years in the same way we speak about  Marcus Garvey our national hero.

St. John’s, Antigua (March 14, 2019) – The Antigua and Barbuda Ministry of Tourism and Investment along with the country’s Tourism Authority has announced the resumption of service by American Airlines to and from Miami following the temporary grounding of flights by the US Government of airlines using the 737 Max 8 aircraft. The airline’s Miami and New York turn service will operate tomorrow March 15th with a 737/800 aircraft at 1:11 p.m. to New York and 3:05 p.m. to Miami respectively.

Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of Tourism & Investment, Hon. Charles ‘Max’ Fernandez, notes that this is welcome news for local tourism officials and hoteliers. “We thank the visitors for their patience and understanding as we worked with the local civil aviation authority and the local American Airlines office, to ensure that those currently in Antigua and Barbuda were provided with alternative routes for comfortably returning to their home countries following their vacation,” notes Fernandez.

During the disruption in service on American Airlines, tourism officials held discussions with the local American Airlines operations along with Caribbean Airlines, Seaborne and LIAT to examine all options to facilitate the rerouting of passengers via Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and St. Kitts.

Road Town, Tortola, March 12, 2019….The British Virgin Islands has new leadership in the pivotal Tourism sector with the recent election of Premier and Minister responsible for Tourism, Hon. Andrew A. Fahie and Territorial At-Large Representative and Junior Minister for Tourism, Hon. Shereen Flax-Charles.   The British Overseas Territory of the Virgin Islands held elections on Monday, February 25th.  Under Fahie’s leadership, the Virgin Islands Party took eight of the 13 seats held by elected members of the Territory’s House of Assembly.  He was sworn in as Premier by Governor Augustus Jaspert on February 26th.  Mrs. Flax-Charles was subsequently named Junior Minister for Tourism to assist Premier Fahie in handling the tourism portfolio.

A veteran legislator, Hon. Fahie has served in the House of Assembly (previously called the Legislative Council) for the past 20 years as the representative for the First Electoral District.  He served as Minister for Education and Culture from 2000-2003 and again from 2007-2011, and as Leader of the Opposition from 2017-2018. Hon. Fahie is a former educator and businessman. 

Mrs. Flax-Charles has been involved in the tourism industry from childhood, having worked at the Fischer’s Cove Beach Hotel in Virgin Gorda, which is owned by her parents.  The first-time legislator is a business woman who worked full time at the BVI Tourist Board in the capacities of Sister Islands Tourism Development Manager and Projects Manager for almost 20 years.  She is well known as a singer with her band “It’s a Secret” and as calypsonian Queen Shereen.

KINGSTON, Jamaica; February 20, 2019: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett (centre) engages Chairperson of the Tourism Linkages’ Gastronomy Network Nicola Madden-Greig (left) and Analyst of Tourism Networks at the Tourism Enhancement Fund, Simone Harris in conversation, ahead of their departure to Florida for the annual South Beach (SOBE) Food and Wine Show.

The Tourism Enhancement Fund and the Jamaica Tourist Board are providing financial support for Jamaican chefs Gariel Ferguson and Colin Hylton to participate in the 4-day food festival, which begins today.  The Tourism Linkages Network is also using this opportunity to have their first ever gastronomy activation outside of Jamaica.

The Minister hopes that by participating in this event, it will showcase Jamaica as a premier Gastronomy destination in the Caribbean.  It will also create an opportunity for food Ambassadors to both integrate and be exposed to the wider chef/culinary community.

Resilience is everybody’s business. All policymakers in the Caribbean must be concerned about the resilience of their national sectors amid a wide range of constantly evolving threats facing the region.  The concern is however especially urgent for policymakers in the tourism sector which is simultaneously one of the most resilient yet volatile segments of the economies of small island states. the risks facing tourism are indeed dynamic.

They are traditional as well as non-traditional.   They range from natural disasters to made-made disasters such as climate change to epidemics and pandemics to terrorism to the emerging threat of cybercrimes.

Despite the presence of these threats, The IDB Action Plan for Latin America and Caribbean has noted that with a few notable exceptions, the region has not pursued policies that reflect an understanding of its vulnerabilities and that identify actions to redress them.  It noted a lack of comprehensive capacity building for disaster and emergency preparedness and response.

Negril, Jamaica. Negril Entertainment Association (NEA) President Ryan Morrison, says even though the resort town gained prominence as a global brand partially due to a robust nightlife, characterised by live reggae music performances by some of Jamaica’s top acts, the town may lose its spirit if it does not get its own entertainment venue.

According to Morrison, many promoters of events are unable to book top flight international artistes to perform, as there is no venue in the town with the enough capacity to hold an audience large enough to make undertaking such a venture, profitable.

“We need an entertainment park, something that is very much close to the town centre, has adequate parking, bathroom facilities, all the modern amenities, but not a white elephant.  We don’t want any more buildings to lock up.  There is a part of Jamaican entertainment, the outdoors, there is nothing like it.  You can’t just talk about going to clubs; people don’t want that.  People want outdoor venues,” Morrison said.

Photo Caption: Anglican Church, Clarks Town, Trelawny, Jamaica.

Jamaica has the distinction of having the most churches per square mile than any other nation in the world.  

But what is awesome about our island nation, is the remarkable religious tolerance practiced here.  No one is discriminated against because of their religion.  All Christian denominations and all of the world’s religions are represented on the island, including our very own Rastafari religion that was created here.