Jamaica captured the lion’s share of accolades in the 23rd Annual World Travel Awards (WTA) for the Caribbean and North America in a glittering ceremony in Ocho Rios Saturday night, September 17. The main players in the industry were out for the black tie affair that saw the grounds of Sandals Ochi transformed as a backdrop to a spectacular evening.
Minister of tourism, Edmund Bartlett complemented the several awards received by Jamaica by himself being bestowed the unique award of the “Caribbean’s Leading Personality for Outstanding Services to Tourism.”Reacting to his award, Minister Bartlett admitted, “it’s a humbling experience” for him. He added, “humbling because what it says is that the efforts of others that you have been able to reflect must not be assumed to be yours.”Amidst the glitz and glamour at the black-tie gala at Sandals Ochi Beach Resort, Minister Bartlett led a high-profiled team of ministry executives on stage to receive the prestigious award for Jamaica as the “Caribbean’s Leading Destination.”Counted among the recipients of top awards, the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) was named the “Caribbean’s Leading Tourist Board” while Jamaica also emerged the “Caribbean’s Leading Cruise Destination” as well as the “Caribbean’s Best Spa Destination.”
Jamaica was also recognized for having the Caribbean’s Leading Cruise Port (Ocho Rios), the Caribbean’s Leading Home Port (Montego Bay), the Caribbean’s Leading Airport (Sangster International Airport), and the Caribbean’s Leading Meetings & Conference Centre (Montego Bay Convention Centre).While noting that the awards signalled that Jamaica was doing well, Minister Bartlett said, “it is not a sufficient position which will allow us to sit on our laurels because there are a number of awards that we didn’t win tonight and it means that Jamaica has some work to do to be able to win these other awards.”In commending the local tourism entities which also won awards, Minister Bartlett stressed that, “what we have seen here is a statement that we are on track but it is also a motivation to go further to cop the other awards to make Jamaica the most outstanding destination in the Caribbean in all categories of experience.”
