BERLIN, Germany — Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett was today awarded Worldwide Tourism Minister of the Year by the prestigious Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA) in Berlin, Germany.

Jamaica also received the PATWA International Travel Award 2017 for the Best Destination for Adventure Tourism.

Other awardees included Qatar Airways — Airline of the Year; India Best Destination – Heritage; and the US State of California’s Napa Valley, Best Destination — Wine Tourism.

The award was given before an audience of international travel and tourism leaders from around the world at the ITB global tourism tradeshow, the largest of its kind globally, attracting around 109,000 visitors and 10,000 exhibitors.

Bartlett was joined by Jamaica Chargé D’affaires for Germany, Keisha Kal Witter; Director of Tourism, Donovan White; Senior Advisor/ Strategist, Delano Seiveright and European based JTB officials.

PATWA is a professional organisation of travel writers, which was founded in 1998 and works with both the public and private sectors to support sustainable growth and improve the quality of travel and tourism. It adheres to the fundamental principles of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the United Nations (UN), and the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). PATWA is an affiliate member of UNWTO.

Bartlett was recent recipient of the 2017 Tourism Minister of the Caribbean award from Caribbean Journal.

Horace Hines