(HM Dubai Meeting) Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett (centre) shares lens time with (l-r) Dr. El Hassan Jouaouine, Economic Advisor, Office of the Minister of the Economy, United Arab Emirates (UAE); Mr. Ibrahim Ayoub, Group CEO of ITIC and Invest Tourism Ltd.; Mr. Delano Seiveright, Senior Strategist, Ministry of Tourism; H.E. Abdulla Al Saleh, Undersecretary, Ministry of Economy, UAE; Mr. Gerald Lawless, Partner ITIC, Invest Tourism Ltd. and World Travel and Tourism Council Ambassador and Mr. Ammar Sajwani, Director of the Tourism Development Department, Ministry of Economy, UAE. The officials met recently at the UAE’s Ministry of Economy, which has oversight for tourism in the UAE, where they discussed plans to facilitate tourism cooperation between Jamaica and Dubai.

Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has revealed that plans are afoot to facilitate tourism cooperation between Jamaica and Dubai following a meeting with H.E. Abdulla Al Saleh, Undersecretary of Foreign Trade and Industry in the Ministry of Economy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

They met recently at the UAE’s Ministry of Economy, which has oversight for tourism in the UAE, where they discussed areas for cooperation in tourism that will redound to the benefit of both countries and their citizens.

Minister Bartlett outlined that: “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.”

In expressing his enthusiasm at the possibilities for collaboration in cruise tourism, Minister Bartlett noted that “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.”

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.

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