KINGSTON, Jamaica — Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett on Thursday received a Governmental and Institutional Travel and Tourism (GITT) Ambassador Award from Chairman and CEO of Tourism Optimizer Platform, Diego Fuentes Díaz, who identified and defined GITT as a new concept within the Tourism Industry.

According to the tourism ministry, governmental and institutional travel is an important niche market within the tourism industry that promotes attractive professional opportunities with an evident future projection.

The minister was presented with the award during a meeting with Díaz in Madrid, Spain to discuss a possible partnership with the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre to develop the world’s first Tourism Resilience Barometer.

The ministry said the barometer will measure the resilience of destinations and determine their ability to respond and recover effectively from crises.

Bartlett is still in Spain attending the twenty-fourth session of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) General Assembly.

He is scheduled to return to the island on December 5.