Jamaica minister of tourism, Edmund Bartlett, has joined other global decision-makers in Cancun, Mexico, for the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit 2021.

The event is positioning itself as the first in person hospitality show since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic early last year.

Bartlett will join chief executive of the United States Travel Association, Roger Dow; Yucatán governor Mauricio Vila Dosal; and Peru minister of tourism, Rocío Barrios, for a panel discussion.

The summit will also enable minister Bartlett and other international tourism sector representatives to finalise talks regarding the level of support to be provided to volcano-hit Saint Vincent & the Grenadines.

This follows recent discussions during a WTTC meeting chaired by minister Bartlett, involving Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister of Saint Vincent & the Grenadines.

Bartlett will also be discussing multi-destination tourism and the strategies that are to be finalised for implementation, with representatives from the Dominican Republic, Panama, Mexico and Costa Rica.

Saudi Arabia

While in Mexico, the Jamaica tourism minister also met with the minister of tourism for the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Ahmed Al-Khateeb.

The two took time out discuss tourism resilience.

Following the meeting, Bartlett was invited by minister Al-Khateeb to join the board of the Global Tourism Academy.

The body will support the work of the Global Tourism Resilience & Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC), the brainchild of minister Bartlett, which will now open a location in Saudi capital, Riyadh.

More Information

The highly-anticipated WTTC Global Summit, organised in partnership with the government of Quintana Roo, is being held in Cancun until April 27th.

The showcase seeks to position itself as the leading tourism event in the calendar, where the highest-level industry leaders meet with key government representatives to act on the biggest issues across the international agenda.

This year, the summit will be exploring the challenges ahead and providing a platform for the recovery of the sector.

Find out more on the official website.