JAMAICA has secured another tourism award after being recognised as the ‘Best Emerging Tourism Market’ by the Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA).

The award was presented to Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett at the organisation’s annual awards ceremony at the recent International Tourism Exchange in Berlin.

“It has been a significant and proud year for Jamaica in terms of being recognised by many of our peers for our tourism product offering and this award for Best Emerging Tourism Market by PATWA is no exception,” he said.

Minister Bartlett added that Jamaica has always been a strong partner of the PATWA as “its ethos for a global sustainable tourism product is in line with Jamaica’s development strategy”.

Bartlett received the award shortly after he delivered a speech at the event that focused on his vision of a Tourism Global Mandate concerning an eco-friendly and sustainable future for the industry.

“Tourism is one of the key primary drivers for growth in terms of the world economy but its development is accompanied by sustainable related challenges. Therefore, I feel that my vision for this mandate will, in the long term, create economic well-being in addition to bringing people of different cultures and ethnic backgrounds together in harmonic relationships and ultimately promote peace. This is already something that Jamaica does very well, both historically and in the present day,” he said.

The tourism minister said the challenge now is to mobilise and maximise tourism investment to provide better access to the tools and financing for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Bartlett said this needs to be channeled through governments and international organisations and also through public and private partnerships.

“This will then enable countries like Jamaica to drive policy, support and subsidise investment in green tourism and thus support a green and sustainable economy,” he said.