NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, tourism provides one in 10 jobs globally, and even more so in developing countries. In the Caribbean, for instance, the World Travel & Tourism Council finds that tourism directly or indirectly creates nearly one in every five jobs.

The upcoming UNWTO, Government of Jamaica, World Bank Group Conference on Jobs & Inclusive Growth: Partnerships for Sustainable Tourism will tackle issues of poverty reduction, sustainable development and inclusive job growth, all through the lens of travel.

People in Jamaica by Rennett Stowe

This conference discussion will center around how to make tourism-driven destinations more profitable, with the help of key stakeholders in the tourism industry – financial services, hotel/hospitality groups, cruise lines, multilateral agencies, lending agencies and donor countries. Topics covered will include talent development and human capital trends; current trends in indigenous tourism; public-private engagement mechanisms for tourism development and growth; and donor-funded programs that balance scale, sustainability and inclusion.

“It is my belief that tourism, when practiced in a sustainable fashion, has the tremendous capacity to create good jobs, provide opportunities for inclusion and education and assist in preserving cultural heritage and the environment,” says Edmund Bartlett, Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism and Entertainment. “Tourism must raise the standard of living for the people in the visited country, not harm it.”

One of the expected outcomes from this global conference is the Montego Bay Declaration. From this will flow an action plan for tourism destinations to follow, as well as the publication of the second volume of the UNWTO Global Report on Public-Private Partnerships.

Tourists climb Dunn’s River Falls, Ocho Rios, Jamaica by Chris Ford.

The conference is set to include such moderators and speakers as Carlos Vogeler, executive director, UNWTO;  Xu Jing, executive secretary of the General Assembly and the Executive Council of UNWTO; Bartlett, Jamaica’s minister of Tourism and Entertainment; Gloria Guevara, president and CEO of World Travel and Tourism Council; Clark Stevens, director of Government Affairs & Strategic Partnerships at Airbnb and Seleni Matus, executive director, International Institute of Tourism Studies, George Washington University.

This event signals the first time the United Nations World Tourism Organization will stage a world conference on tourism in the Americas. UNWTO, Government of Jamaica, World Bank Group Conference on Jobs & Inclusive Growth: Partnerships for Sustainable Tourism takes place Monday, Nov. 27 – Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre. Please register here.

NextBillion is a media partner for this event, and will provide coverage both during and after the conference.

Edmund Bartlett is Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism and Entertainment. 

Photo of the Montego Bay Conference Centre by Ken Williams; people in Jamaica by Rennett Stowe via Flickr and Dunn’s River Falls, Ocho Rios, Jamaica by Chris Ford via Flickr.