MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica — A mural project in Montego Bay by global tourism company TUI is being hailed for enhancing Jamaican culture, heritage, and creativity with a broader intention to help preserve the island’s identity for locals and visitors alike.

Done under TUI Care Foundation’s Colourful Cultures programme in collaboration with Kingston Creative, the project this month unveiled two murals at the Scotiabank branch and Hi-Lo supermarket in downtown Montego Bay.

They are the first of six such pieces to be mounted at various points in the tourist resort city as the project continues over the next two years.

“This project is significant because it recognises that culture is not ornamental, it is foundational. By protecting cultural heritage, investing in creative expression, and embedding art and storytelling within tourism destinations, this programme ensures that tourism growth does not dilute who we are, but instead amplifies it,” Tova Hamilton, junior minister in the Ministry of Tourism, said at the unveiling ceremony.

“It affirms that our murals, festivals, stories, and lived experiences are economic assets, social anchors, and powerful tools of preservation,” she added.

“Montego Bay, Jamaica’s tourism capital, has always been more than a destination. It is a living, breathing cultural space, rich with music, visual expression, heritage, and people whose creativity shapes the visitor experience every single day,” Hamilton said.

“Initiatives like this one affirm that culture is not only something to be enjoyed, but something to be protected, invested in, and sustained for generations to come,” she further declared.

Montego Bay’s first citizen, Mayor Richard Vernon, agreed, saying that the mounting of the murals demonstrate how creativity, culture, and intellectual capital can drive growth, generate jobs, and foster inclusion in a tourism-dependent space such as Montego Bay.

“By embedding these principles into our tourism product, we are diversifying our economy, creating opportunities for our youth, and positioning Montego Bay as a destination where visitors experience both leisure and innovation,” he said.

“The unveiling of these murals during Black History Month carries deep significance. They are not only works of art but statements of identity, resilience, and pride. To sustain this momentum, we must accelerate the MoBay Murals Programme, ensuring that public art continues to transform our spaces and inspire our people,” the Mayor said.

Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce President Jason Russell also welcomed the development, explaining that mounting the murals was important, especially for Montego Bay as it goes a far way in the work to revitalise the city centre.

“They didn’t go to the hip strip, they didn’t put up a mural at the airport, they didn’t put a mural on a beach or the planes flying in to sell what they can do, TUI is a big international brand, they would want to put their name all over where tourists can see,” he said.

‘They put in St Claver’s Avenue, why, because that’s where culture starts. It starts in your downtown in your public areas; it starts with the people first,” he declared.

The work is being done under TUI Foundation’s Target 8.9 initiative which fosters sustainable tourism, create jobs, and supports local culture. It directly aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 8.9 by driving, financing, and implementing projects that provide local economic opportunities. Key focus areas include tourism innovation, environmental protection, and community development.

According to Target 8.9 Project Manager Sheryl Brown, the aim of the project is to empower creatives to gain access to new income opportunities and promote their cultural heritage through tourism offers.

“The mission of the TUI Colourful Cultures Montego Bay, Jamaica is to boost the creative economy in Montego Bay by fostering a vibrant creative ecosystem showcasing Jamaican culture and empowering local creatives through training, collaboration, and exposure, to preserve and promote our culture,” she explained.

The two-year initiative will have an arts festival, and workshops, among other activities as it works to boost the creative economy in St James and, by extension, Jamaica, she further explained.

The murals, entitled Echoes of MoBay located on the Scotiabank building on St James Street, and Deep Cultural Emergence on St Claver’s Avenue, were done by artists in western Jamaica.

Open call for the murals went out in November last year and in January 2026 the artists started installation work.

“These murals are not isolated, artistic efforts, they are not random,” executive director of Kingston Creative Andrea Dempster-Chung explained. “We have developed over 120 murals over the nine years and they are a part of a deliberate, strategic effort led by Kingston Creative and our partners to strengthen Jamaica’s tourism ecosystem and to grow our creative economy.”

On its website, TUI Care Foundation, which is based in the Netherlands, states that it “supports and initiates projects which create new opportunities and contribute to thriving communities in tourism destinations all over the world”.

It also states that it connects holidaymakers to good causes, supports education and training opportunities for young people, drives the protection of natural habitats and the marine environment, and helps local communities to thrive sustainably and benefit from tourism.

Stakeholders gather in front of the mural on the Scotia Bank building on St James Street, Montego Bay, done under TUI’s Colourful Cultures programme.

State minister in the Ministry of Tourism Tova Hamilton speaking at the unveiling of a TUI Care Foundation mural in Montego Bay, St James.

TUI’s Target 8.9 Project Manager Sheryl Brown speaking at the mural unveiling in Montego Bay.