ST JAMES, Jamaica — Over 157 global policymakers and leaders in tourism are currently gathered at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James for the historic United Nations-World Trade Organization (UNWTO) international tourism conference.Among items to be discussed are:

“It is indeed a great honour and tremendous privilege to be opening this very monumental UNWTO international tourism conference, which is the first of its kind in the Caribbean,” said Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett as the conference began shortly before 9:00 am.

“Building private-public partnerships for sustainable tourism for development – this conference welcomes global policymakers and leaders in tourism from over 157 countries, several international agencies of the United Nations, as well as large delegation of local stakeholders to the beautiful city of Montego Bay for three days of fruitful engagement and discussion about the future of global tourism,” added Bartlett.

Bartlett further noted that over the next three days a wide range of issues related to the resilience and sustainability of global tourism will discussed.

*Public-private collaborations for tourism development and growth;

*Key elements of successful investments in the tourism sector;

*International best practices in tourism development;

*Tourism and the SDGs;

*International technical assistance and financing for tourism development projects; and

*Donor-funded projects that balance scale, sustainability and inclusion.

Bartlett also noted that when the conference comes to an end on Wednesday, a global agenda will hopefully be crafted which is aimed at collaborative approaches to mitigate shared tourism risks and strengthen resilience as well as build consensus.

“At the end of this conference I am very optimistic that we will be able to craft a global agenda that seeks to design collaborative approaches to mitigate shared tourism risks and strengthen resilience as well as build consensus around the strategies necessary to further position global tourism as a catalyst for promoting inclusive economic growth, sustainable livelihoods, environmental sustainability and social development,” stated an optimistic Bartlett.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness will give the keynote address tomorrow during the official opening ceremony while on Wednesday a keynote presentation by Toshiyuki Nakamura, director general of the industrial development and public policy department, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), will release research findings on tourism development projects and the SDGs.

Anthony Lewis