THE Ministry of Tourism has sought to clarify that conference bags, and items within the bags, were indeed sourced and procured through a local manufacturing company for the recent United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)/Government of Jamaica Second Global Conference on Jobs and Inclusive Growth, in Montego Bay.

The ministry also noted that the UNWTO did not play a part of the procurement of the conference bags and the items.

The response from the ministry’s organising committee for the conference, which targeted small and medium tourism enterprises (SMTEs), followed a statement from the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association (JMEA) expressing shock that local companies were not given the opportunity to supply conference bags and other memorabilia for the conference, which supported the SMTEs.

The JMEA’s statement was triggered by an earlier newspaper report which claimed that the use of mass-produced Chinese promotional items by the organisers was greeted with strong disapproval.

But in a response yesterday, the organising committee for the conference stated that:

“(1)Conference bags and items within the bags were sourced and procured through a local manufacturing company which has been in operation for 40 years and is Caricom export certified.

(2)The UNWTO was not a part of the procurement of these conference bags and their items.”

“The Ministry of Tourism has consistently supported small and medium tourism suppliers, through various initiatives, to help them secure more business and will continue to do so,” a news release explained.

It said it also established five tourism linkages networks — gastronomy, sports and entertainment, health and wellness, shopping, and knowledge ­— to drive programmes and projects that create more economic opportunities for small providers of goods and services within tourism. All these networks are led and supported by leading members of Jamaica’s business community.

The Government partnered with the UNWTO to host the conference at Montego Bay Convention Centre on January 29.

This signature event, which featured several notable figures in the area of SMTEs, was a direct response to the global conference on jobs and inclusive growth hosted in Jamaica in 2017.

The SMTE conference looked at many of the perennial challenges faced by SMTEs, including issues of access to credit, marketing, technology and business development. The conference solely targeted SMTEs and best practices that have direct relevance to their development.