ST JAMES, Jamaica – Plans are underway to facilitate tourism cooperation between Jamaica and Dubai following a meeting between Jamaica’s tourism minister Edmund Bartlett and Undersecretary of Foreign Trade and Industry in the Ministry of Economy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) HE Abdulla Al Saleh.

The two parties met recently at the UAE’s Ministry of Economy, which has oversight for tourism in the oil-rich Middle Eastern country, where they discussed areas for cooperation in tourism that will redound to the benefit of both countries and their citizens.

“We concluded that Jamaica and Dubai can collaborate in tourism. Dubai will support us in terms of MICE market development, logistics and technology and we will reciprocate in terms of resilience and sustainability, the building out of human capital programmes, product development and marketing,” Bartlett outlined.

“Dubai Ports, one of the largest in the world with enormous capacity, is looking for partnerships across the world and Jamaica is a good place to start,” he added.

A key matter that was also explored during the meeting was the possibility of establishing an outpost of the Jamaica-based Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) in the UAE. This would mark the centre’s latest satellite location, adding to its offices in countries including Kenya, Jordan and Canada.

Bartlett indicated that further discussions will be held to formalise these arrangements through a Memorandum of Understanding when both countries convene alongside other nations at COP 28 this November.