KINGSTON, Jamaica – Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett and Earl Jarrett, chief executive officer of The Jamaica National Group (JN Group) yesterday signed an agreement under which the JN Group will provide planning, management and execution services for mounting of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s (UNWTO) International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development Conference, from November 27 to 29 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, St James.

Bartlett, speaking at the signing ceremony, during the Jamaica 55 Diaspora Conference, at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston, said that this is the first time in the history of the UNWTO that the private and public sectors will be working together, in collaboration with multi-lateral financial institutions, to stage an event of this nature.

The event is also of great historical importance because it signals the first time that the UNWTO will stage a world conference on tourism in the Caribbean.

“The conference in November will address an imbalance in the global funding of tourism activities and development,” Bartlett said.

“Despite the powerhouse impact that tourism is having on the world economy, there is a disproportionate flow of funding and financing, and this is happening, although 80 percent of tourism is driven by small and medium countries.”

The World Bank Group and donor countries, through their specific investment arms, are participating in the conference through panels that will explore various areas of sustainability; and, how projects and financing can be generated for small and medium players in the global tourism sector.