Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett has been honoured with the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s President’s Award for Caribbean Excellence in Tourism during the Travel Forum and Awards luncheon held at Sandals Royal Barbados this week.

“The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association is acutely aware that resilience strengthens Caribbean tourism, and it is a message that has reached all corners of the region and the world largely because of the efforts of one man, the Honourable Edmund Bartlett, Jamaica’s dynamic Minister of Tourism. This is one of the many reasons why we honour him today,” said CHTA President Nicola Madden-Greig.

The CHTA says one of Bartlett’s notable international successes was the establishment of The Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC), which assembles distinguished international experts to examine resilience from multiple viewpoints. The CHTA called the initiative “a timely and much needed forum for the examination of the key elements needed to strengthen the region’s major economic driver.”

On receiving the award, Bartlett said: “It is always good to be recognized for your hard work and dedication, but this award is extra special as it is coming from my regional partners who I have worked shoulder to shoulder with for many years to improve our tourism experience and ultimately arrivals and earnings.”

Bartlett was also cited as an advocate for harmonizing cooperation and collaboration among Caribbean countries. He has lobbied for a single-use visa to encourage visitors to travel to multiple destinations in the region.

The CHTA also praised Bartlett for his position that Caribbean destinations can cooperate as well as compete with each other – a concept for which he coined the word “co-petition.”

“Tourism in the Caribbean and Jamaica are that much better off for having an innovative thought leader like Minister Bartlett and we all wholeheartedly congratulate him,” said Donovan White, Jamaica’s Director of Tourism.