UNWTO and Jamaica to Assist in Rebuilding Haiti's Hospitality Industry

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. February 05, 2010

February 5, 2010 - The United Nations World Tourism Organisation will be working with the Jamaica Tourist Board and other regional tourism partners to rebuild the industry in Haiti following the devastation caused by the earthquake.

Jamaica's Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett and UNWTO regional representative for the Americas, Carlos Vogeler, spoke to the need to help with the reconstruction of the travel and tourism industry in Haiti, where more than 200,000 were killed and millions left homeless.

Bartlett said a meeting has been held to determine the 'best approach' to helping Haiti, with representatives from the UNWTO, the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, and Caribbean Tourism Organization.

“We will be meeting to discuss the approach for economic reconstruction of Haiti, because we are of the view that tourism can energize a quicker recovery process,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

He also said he would be meeting with his Haitian counterpart, Patrick Delatour, to formulate the project.

The Montego Bay tourism seminar has attracted top industry players from across the Caribbean to look at the future of tourism.

The region is expected to grow between three and four per cent internationally this year, reversing last year's four per cent decline.

Director of tourism John Lynch said Jamaica's ability to experience growth in its tourism sector, despite the recession, was as a result of the strong partnership with industry players who have contributed to what he described as “our best January ever.”