KINGSTON, Jamaica — Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says the inaugural United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Global Conference on Tourism Development and Sustainability to be held in Jamaica later this year, will address the imbalance in the global funding of tourism activities.

“The conference will address the imbalance in the global funding of tourism activities and development,” the minister stated in a release today, adding that “…given 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.”

In the release from Jamaica National Group, who will be providing management and execution services for mounting of the conference, Bartlett in making his point, pointed to statistics from the World Travel & Tourism Council, which indicate that the sector generated US$7.6 trillion, approximately 10.2 per cent of global GDP; and 292 million jobs in 2016, equivalent to one in 10 jobs in the global economy.

According to the release, locally, the travel and tourism industry generated $4.5 billion to GDP last year. This represents 30 per cent of Jamaica’s GDP, which is larger than the impact of every other sector on the Jamaican economy, and twice the size of the contribution made by the Jamaican banking industry.

The minister also hailed the historic significance of the conference.

“This event is also of historical importance, because it signals the first time that the UNWTO will stage a world conference on tourism in the Caribbean or Americas,” Bartlett said. He further noted that it was 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 World Bank Group and donor countries, through their specific investment agencies, will participate in panel discussions 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, the release said.

The conference will be held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James, from November 27 to 29, 2017. It is projected that close to 1000 delegates from 157 countries will attend.