Ed Bartlett to lead new CTO Committee as Jamaica pushes post-Melissa tourism recovery

Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, has been tapped to chair a new high-level Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) committee tasked with strengthening regional linkages and ensuring more tourism revenue stays within Caribbean economies.

Announced in Miami on Monday, the committee will guide a regional strategy aimed at reducing economic leakage by deepening connections between tourism and key productive sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and the creative industries. Representatives from more than a dozen destinations — including Barbados, The Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Turks and Caicos Islands — will serve on the body.

“This committee is about moving from leakage to linkage,” Bartlett said. “Our goal is to ensure that more of every tourism dollar stays in the Caribbean, builds our businesses, creates quality jobs for our people and strengthens the resilience of our economies.”

CTO Chairman and Barbados Tourism Minister Ian Gooding-Edghill said Bartlett’s appointment formalizes the organization’s commitment to expanding supply-side development across the region. He noted that member states unanimously agreed that Jamaica — already a leading proponent of tourism linkages and revenue retention — should lead the initiative.

“We are pleased that the Minister has accepted yet another challenge to further advance the development of the region’s tourism sector,” Gooding-Edghill added.

To support the committee’s technical work, Bartlett has offered the expertise of Professor Lloyd Waller, Executive Director of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, to draft the Terms of Reference.

Bartlett also briefed regional ministers on Jamaica’s post-Hurricane Melissa rebound, noting that the island is on track to have roughly 70% of its hotel inventory restored by January. Capacity at the island’s three international airports has already exceeded 85% of pre-storm levels as winter airlift returns. He thanked Caribbean partners — including the Turks and Caicos Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands and The Bahamas — for the support shown during the recovery period.

Meanwhile, the CTO Secretariat has been directed to begin exploratory work on carrying capacities across member states. The findings are expected to guide the new committee’s recommendations and bolster efforts to build a more sustainable, resilient regional tourism industry.