The Hon. Edmund Bartlett, Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, is a transformative leader with over four decades of dedicated public service. Beginning his career in Parliament, Bartlett has held various important roles, including Minister of State for Information, Broadcasting & Culture and Minister of Youth, Sports & Community Development. He first assumed the Tourism portfolio in 2007, with subsequent tenures that have had far-reaching implications for Jamaica and the global tourism landscape.
Bartlett’s impact is especially evident in his innovative initiatives aimed at enhancing social equity and human capital within the tourism sector. Through the Jamaica Centre of Tourism Innovation and the ground-breaking Tourism Workers Pension Scheme, he has fostered a more inclusive and secure environment for over 10,000 industry professionals. These initiatives are not only revolutionary in Jamaica but also set a global standard, amassing over 1 billion dollars within a year of their implementation.
He is also the Founder of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC). Under his leadership, the GTRCMC has grown into an international network of experts dedicated to developing resilient tourism practices. It has satellite centers across the globe, from North America to Africa. The Minister’s influence on the international stage was evident when the United Nations ratified Jamaica’s efforts to bolster resilience in world tourism by officially designating February 17 as Global Tourism Resilience Day annually.
As an author, Bartlett has enriched the discourse on tourism resilience with publications that promise to be seminal works in the field. His books “Tourism Resilience and Recovery for Global Sustainability and Development: Navigating COVID-19 and the Future”, which he co-edited with GTRCMC Executive Director, Professor Lloyd Waller and “Thought Leadership on Tourism, Resilience, and Sustainability in the 21st Century,” have garnered international attention and are used as educational resources worldwide.
Regionally and internationally, he has held significant leadership positions, including Chairman of various UN and Caribbean Tourism Organization boards. As one of the world’s leading Tourism Ministers, Mr. Bartlett has served as Chairman of the Board of Affiliate Members of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Vice Chairman of the UNWTO Executive Council, Vice Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and Chair of the UNWTO Regional Commission of the Americas (CAM). He is currently the Chair of the Organization of American States (OAS) Inter- American Committee on Tourism (CITUR).
His work has earned him numerous accolades such as the Caribbean Tourism Minister of the Year and the Pacific Area Travel Writers Association’s Award for Sustainable Tourism. More recently, he was honoured with a “Lifetime Achievement Award For Promotion of Sustainable Travel & Tourism” by the Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA) International Travel Awards.
Beyond his ministerial role, Bartlett is deeply committed to his constituents in East Central St. James. His initiatives in 2education and welfare have had a transformative impact on the community, most notably through the creation of scholarships and centers for early childhood education for over 43 years.
Married for over 50 years and a grandfather of two, Bartlett is a man of varied interests, from cricket and dominoes to dancing. His life and work exemplify a deep commitment to bettering the lives of Jamaicans and advancing the global tourism industry. With a legacy rich in innovation, resilience, and social equity, Bartlett stands as a paragon of transformative leadership in the 21st century.
