Jamaica Hosts Inaugural CHTA Responsible Tourism Day Activities

Jamaica was chosen by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) as the location for the inauguration of a new initiative aimed at promoting sustainable tourism, as a new feature of its flagship Caribbean Travel Marketplace tradeshow. The 42nd staging of the trade event was hosted in Jamaica from May 20-23, 2024.

Branded CHTA Responsible Tourism Day (RTD), it has been introduced as part of a broader movement towards responsible tourism and is designed to encourage sustainable tourism development, highlighted by giving back to, and making a positive impact on local communities.

The activities chosen covered ‘agricultural linkages with tourism,’ ‘climate change and tourism,’ and ‘community and tourism,’ and were staged on Labor Day, May 23. It included planting fruit trees at Croydon In The Mountains historic estate, while highlighting how agriculture and tourism interface with attention to food security. It also entailed a beach clean-up and educational tour at the Montego Bay Marine Park, which conserves and restores the coastal resources of Montego Bay, as well as the painting and beautifying of the SOS Children’s Village in Barrett Town, in addition to creating a village farm with vegetables and fruits.

Among participants at the SOS Children’s Village were Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett and CHTA President, Nicola Madden-Greig.

In commending the initiative, Mr. Bartlett said:

“Tourism has a new definition post-COVID-19; we’re not just an economic activity anymore, but we are a driver of social and economic development within the area and a greater focus is now being placed on the social side of our responsibility.”

In that regard, he said there was more involvement in communities, with tourism entities becoming more conscious about the environment, with added focus on environmental management, economic development and the well-being of the workers and the people involved in tourism communities.

Governance has also become an area of focus “and the use of data as a huge driver of decision-making and to create abilities for us to understand better the thinking of people. For instance, what the psychographic profiles of the market now are and how we can develop new products in line with these new profiles that are developing,” added Minister Bartlett. “To enable our people to manipulate, what I call, the cognitive systems is really about what the future of tourism is going to be,” he posited.

Mrs. Madden Greig outlined that one of the objectives of the venture was to give back to tourism and Responsible Tourism Day would be an ongoing feature of Marketplace activities.

“That is the plan. It started under my administration but I am sure that it will continue. We really feel that this is a strong thing that we need to do as citizens of the Caribbean, but most importantly, giving back to our communities because it is our communities that support us and absolutely make the tourism product what it is,” said Mrs. Madden Greig. “People are an integral part of everything that we do and so we have to remember that we have to have inclusiveness and we want to strengthen our linkages,” she added.