Bartlett leads Canada marketing blitz to convert 400,000 winter seats into bookings

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett departed Jamaica on Friday for a five-city marketing campaign in Canada aimed at converting approximately 400,000 available airline seats into visitor bookings for the 2026/2027 winter tourist season. A statement from the ministry said the initiative comes as Jamaica continues its recovery from Hurricane Melissa, with tourism officials seeking to maintain visitor demand and protect earnings from one of the country’s key source markets. Bartlett, accompanied by Director of Tourism Donovan White and representatives of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), is scheduled to meet travel advisors, tourism industry stakeholders and media representatives in Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Montreal. The campaign will focus on securing bookings, strengthening relationships with Canadian travel partners and promoting Jamaica’s tourism offerings ahead of the winter season. “Every seat that comes into Jamaica represents an opportunity, but that opportunity is only realised when it becomes a booking, a visitor and spending that reaches our people,” Bartlett said. He said maintaining tourism demand during the recovery period was critical not only for hotels but also for farmers, craft vendors, transportation providers, entertainers, tour operators and other small businesses that depend on visitor spending. “As we continue rebuilding following Hurricane Melissa, we must be deliberate about protecting demand for Jamaica and ensuring that the benefits of tourism are sustained across our economy,” the minister said. The promotional campaign begins in Toronto on Friday with the JTB’s Fall/Winter 2026 Greater Toronto Area Destination Update Seminar, which will bring together travel industry partners and media representatives. Bartlett is also scheduled to attend the Diaspora Impact Awards Ceremony and the Black North Initiative Excellence Gala in Toronto on Saturday. The delegation will travel to Calgary on Sunday, ahead of a destination product launch and media engagements on Monday, October 26. Similar promotional activities are scheduled for Edmonton on Tuesday and Winnipeg on Wednesday, with tourism officials targeting increased business from Western Canada. The final stop will be Montreal on Thursday, October 29, where the delegation will conduct French-language television, radio and digital media interviews targeting the Quebec market. The Montreal programme will also include discussions with a Transat representative and an interview with travel industry publication Profession Voyage. Bartlett said the campaign would target travel advisors and other industry partners who influence destination choices, while providing updates on Jamaica’s tourism product and recovery efforts. “Our approach is to meet the market where it is. We are engaging the people who influence travel decisions, the advisors who recommend destinations, the media that shape perceptions and the partners whose confidence helps bring visitors to our shores,” he said. The minister is scheduled to return to Jamaica on Friday, October 30, ahead of the Tourism Service Excellence Awards, which will be held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre on Saturday, October 31. Bartlett said securing additional visitor bookings would help sustain employment and economic activity across communities that rely on tourism. “Our tourism workers are the backbone of this industry and the heartbeat of the Jamaican experience we share with the world. Their warmth, professionalism and commitment are central to what makes Jamaica special,” he said. “The work we are doing in Canada is therefore about much more than marketing a vacation; it is about helping to secure the business that sustains their jobs, supports their families and creates economic opportunities for communities across Jamaica.”