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KINGSTON, Jamaica; December 24, 2018: Tourism Minister, Hon Edmund Bartlett says the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, stands ready to support Indonesia in their recovery programme, following a tsunami that struck along the rim of the Sunda Strait, between Java and Sumatra islands, killing at least 373 people.

In a letter to the Tourism Minister of the Republic of Indonesia, Hon. Arief Yahya, Co-Chairman of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says, “I express to you our deepest sympathies on the horrible tsunami event which claimed so many lives and destroyed so much of the human and other assets of your beautiful country.”

He further noted, “The Centre stands ready to support your recovery efforts and will meet with its partners to identify possible solutions.”

Fresh off its coronation as the 2018 World’s Leading Honeymoon Destination, Saint Lucia has been nominated for four new tourism industry awards.

 the 26^th annual World Travel Awards (WTA), the destination will vie for the titles of:

• Caribbean’s Leading Cruise Destination 2019
• Caribbean’s Leading Destination 2019
• Caribbean’s Leading Honeymoon Destination 2019
• Caribbean’s Leading Luxury Island Destination 2019

Saint Lucia has won the Caribbean’s Leading Honeymoon Destination honour nine times since the WTA began recognising the top honeymoon hotspots in the Caribbean region in 2009. However, the destination has never won in any of the other categories in which it has been nominated.

SOURCE: eTurbo News

Today Swoop celebrates its first international flight from John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport (YHM) to Sangster International Airport (MBJ) in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

The sold-out flight departs Hamilton at 8:00 a.m. EST and arrives in Montego Bay at 12:10 p.m. EST. Travelers will be greeted upon landing in Montego Bay with a celebratory water arch, met with live entertainment and donned with local customary decorative beads.

December 12, 2018. Returning Residents are Jamaicans so named because they have lived, worked abroad and have returned home, in some cases to retire, to invest, or to continue working and sharing their many years of experience and expertise. However, after any significant period of time abroad, the process of returning to reside takes planning and requires accurate information before relocating to the land of one’s birth.

Access Jamaica Network, a WhatsApp group, founded by Theo Chambers, marketing guru, was abuzz with posts responding to a video that spread across the social media like wildfire last week (week of Dec. 3, 2018). The video showed an unidentified woman driving a motorcar who faced the camera as she described three murders of returning residents. Appealing to viewers not to return to Jamaica, she rationalized that after working abroad, saving their hard-earned money to buy their dream homes, they could be targeted and killed.

While the woman in the video offered one dire solution to a string of murders of which she mentioned three, the members of Access Jamaica Network offered several solutions some of which are mentioned herein. Returning Residents were dissuaded from returning to their old neighborhoods to build large homes, becoming targets, instead they were encouraged to live in gated communities.  Dr. Marcia Brandon sustainable development entrepreneur who has lived in Barbados and worked in the region for almost 30 years, a daughter of the Jamaican soil, who intends to return home in the near future, agreed with Sharon Oshun Chambers, author & public relations consultant, who called for a peaceful march on Jamaica to bring the returning resident community together and help eliminate fear. Brandon said “mobilize members in all parishes and march on Jamaica to take action; we need our returning residents and there is no way we can just let them be harmed and killed and we sit back and take it”. Chambers suggested a town a town hall meeting, inviting government agencies to help find solutions.

Festival’s third and final night made attendees dance with Pepe Hernandez’s Latin jazz, followed by the awe-inspiring skill of world-renowned Lalah Hathaway. Bobby McFerrin provided a spectacular grand finale that reinforced the importance of Riviera Maya Jazz Festival, a free event that has drawn huge world talents; national and international visitors; and press coverage from Mexico, United States and Canada.

Darío Flota Ocampo, Director of the Quintana Roo Tourism Board and festival organizer, emphasized the positive mood and participation of the audience, who in spite of record-breaking crowds enjoyed the performers and ensured another successful Riviera Maya Jazz Festival.

Source: eTurbo News (Oleg Sziakov assignment editor)

Source: www.Caribjournal.com

Photo Caption: The newly-rebranded Hilton Playa del Carmen.

The newly-rebranded — hotels are the result of a strategic alliance between Hilton and all-inclusive leader Playa Hotels and Resorts, a relationship that will eventually produce 10 all-inclusive properties around the region.

~The handbook for tourism businesses and policymakers provides information and outlines actions and strategies for disaster management in tourism. ~

Bridgetown, Barbados (23 November 2018) – The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), the region’s tourism development agency, is soon to publish a disaster risk management (DRM) guide for the region’s tourism sector as part of its objective to foster a culture of preparedness in destination management.

The publication, which targets tourism businesses and policymakers, will help guide the tourism sector’s preparedness, response and recovery from the multiplicity of hazards that impact and/or potentially threaten the region. 

Tourism Minister, Hon Edmund Bartlett says plans are now underway by his Ministry to develop the parish of St Thomas as Jamaica’s newest tourism destination.

Speaking at the ribbon cutting ceremony on November 16 for Lyssons Beach, in the parish, Minister Bartlett said, “We are currently developing the newest destination in Jamaica – St Thomas. Already we have commissioned a tourism development assessment and spent over $30 million, bringing technical and key skilled planners, designers and tourism destination aficionados – people who understand how to build a destination.”

He further noted that, “Tourism development is a means by which we can diversify a local economy, minimize the rural urban drift and drive inclusive and sustainable development. We can agree that the parish of St Thomas needs this at this time. In fact, the Government of Jamaica has targeted the parish for special developmental focus and tourism has been selected as a key driver for that development.”

Source: The Caribbean Journal staff

Riu has reopened another all-inclusive hotel in the Caribbean.

The latest Riu property to undergo a major renovation is the all-inclusive Riu Palace Tropical Bay in Negril, part of a widespread upgrade push across the region.

LATAM Airlines Group today announced two new flights from its Lima hub including a new Caribbean destination, Montego Bay (Jamaica), and a direct service to Calama, Chile.

Starting 1 July 2019, LATAM Airlines Peru will operate three weekly flights to Montego Bay, offering convenient connections with cities in Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. The route will be operated by Airbus A320 aircraft with capacity for 174 passengers, equivalent to a total of 52,600 seats per year.

 “Next July, we will offer our passengers even greater choice with a new destination in the Caribbean as well as significantly shorter journey times between Lima and Calama, the gateway to San Pedro de Atacama,” said Enrique Cueto, CEO of LATAM Airlines Group. “As part of our commitment to offering unrivalled connectivity in Latin America, we continue to make it easier to explore the best that this region has to offer, with more destinations and flight options than any other airline group.”

Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has been appointed to the board of sitting ministers and appointed public officials, of the newly formed African Tourism Board association.

Bartlett received the appointment while in London, last week, during the official unveiling of the multinational-body at this year’s World Travel Market. The organization, which is part of the International Coalition of Tourism Partners, was developed to promote the hospitality sector in Africa.

Other members include Hon. Jose Gonçalves, Cape Verde’s Minister of Tourism; Hon. Minister Mahmoud Kombo, Zanzibar’s Minister Information, Tourism and Heritage; Pascal Viroleau, CEO The Vanilla Islands Organization; and Hon Dr. Memunatu Pratt, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Tourism & Culture.

Jamaica has been listed as one of the top five trending destinations to travel to in January 2019 by international travel website Kayak.  In a recent Kayak report, Jamaica landed at number five among the top ten trending destinations with a thirty percent (30%) increase in year-over-year searches for New Year's by travellers seeking to visit.

Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says this positioning augurs well for the country’s international appeal by visitors and speaks to “The safe, secure and seamlessness of our tourism products and offerings. This is an indicator that Jamaica’s tourism remains robust and sought after and we are committed to ensuring that our visitors and locals alike are safe as they enjoy what the island has to offer.”

Kayak.com, sometimes styled as KAYAK, is a popular travel website operated by Booking Holdings. KAYAK's website and mobile apps are currently available in over 18 languages and more than 30 local markets, including the United States, the United Kingdom, India, China, and France among many other countries.

The International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) BUILDING COMMUNITIES AS BUSINESSES CONFERENCE will take place at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Visitors’ Lodge in Kingston, Jamaica from November 12 – 15, 2018.

The Conference is in collaboration with Countrystyle Villages as Businesses, the UWI Open Campus, the Caribbean Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Livelihoods, Making Connections Work Ltd UK/Diaspora Connect 2022, the YES Foundation, the National Best Communities Foundation and the UWI Tourism Society. It will feature community tourism case studies from Jamaica, the Caribbean region and Africa and honour outstanding community tourism entities.

The Title Sponsor is COMPETE CARIBBEAN. Compete Caribbean (CCPF) is a facility that delivers innovative and practical solutions that stimulate economic growth, increase productivity, and foster innovation and competitiveness in 13 countries across the Caribbean region. CCPF is a partnership of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Government of Canada.

Lindquist Beach on St. Thomas is popular among visitors and residents.

According to travel website KAYAK's Holiday Travel Hacker, the popular Caribbean destination is the No. 6 Trending New Year's Eve Destination for travelers this season, with a 25 percent increase in web searches about the U.S. Virgin Islands.

KAYAK considered flight destinations with the greatest year-over-year increase in searches of the top 100 most searched destinations for travel dates starting December 25 to 31, 2018, and ending January 1 to 2, 2019, along with the search dates January 1 to August 18, 2018.

The latest international thumbs-up comes fast on the heels of recent news that St. Thomas has been ranked the No. 1 Caribbean destination on Airbnb - with a 600 percent increase in bookings over last year. 

St. Lucia is nestled halfway down the Eastern Caribbean archipelago. The "Helen of the West Indies," Saint Lucia is known for its natural beauty and diverse attractions, including the signature Piton Mountains - a UNESCO World Heritage Site - a tropical rainforest and one of the world's few drive-in volcanoes.

Prime Minister, Honourable Allen Chastanet and acting Chief Executive Officer of the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, Mrs. Tiffany Howard are among officials set to welcome the inaugural JetBlue Mint service on Saturday November 3, 2018. The flight originating out of Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) is expected to land at the Hewanorra International Airport (UVF) at 12:39 p.m.

The Saint Lucia Tourism Authority is ecstatic about the new service. While it is not a new flight, JetBlue has added its premium Mint service to the route, which allows passengers the luxury of kicking back and relaxing on fully lie-flat seats. Each seat features cushions with adjustable firmness and a massage feature, a comforter and pillow, and ergonomic touches. In addition, the Mint service provides individualized seatback TVs and unlimited snacks.

The Acting CEO at the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, Mrs. Tiffany Howard, said; “This is exciting news for our destination as the introduction of the JetBlue Mint service from Boston shows continued growth in our luxury sector out of Northeast United States. Our goal at the SLTA is to continue welcoming more visitors to Saint Lucia and JetBlue, as a partner, continues to complement our marketing efforts.”