Jamaica minister of tourism, Edmund Bartlett, has appointed a new director of visitor safety and experience for the Caribbean destination.

Major Dave Walker will further review an initial report from a recent island-wide security audit of the tourism sector.

Following this review, Walker will submit a final report with recommendations on the way forward by the start of the winter tourist season in December.

Bartlett, who made the announcement earlier, said: “Major Walker comes to the Tourism Product Development Company with a wealth of security experience and has been directed to critically review findings from the initial report with a view to analysing the data and providing recommendations on constructing a new architecture for security in the sector.”

Walker has spent in excess of twenty-three years in the military where he served in various operational and strategic capacities. 

He was military advisor in Sierra Leone and held a similar role dealing with matters relating to regional security with the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security.

Bartlett also highlighted that: “An important outcome from this further review will be the creation of a Manual on Tourism Ethics, a first of its kind, which will guide not just the expectations of security infrastructure in the sector but how we interface with each other.”

Last year, Bartlett ordered an intensive security audit of hotel properties across the island.

The aim of the audit was to identify gaps and ensure a strategy of a safe, secure and seamless destination for visitors and locals alike.

The Tourism Product Development Company, which is in charge of maintaining quality assurance within the destination, coordinated the intensive security audit with support from internationally recognised security expert, Peter Tarlow.