Jamaica Minister of Tourism Bartlett to be Honoured as Tourism ‘Icon’

Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett, will be honoured as a Tourism ICON at the PYNE Awards Africa 2026, recognizing his global leadership in building tourism resilience and advancing stronger partnerships between Africa, the Caribbean and the wider Global South.

Minister Bartlett will receive the honour during the PYNE Awards Africa 2026, scheduled for September 24–26, 2026, in Maputo, Mozambique. The awards celebrate leaders across Africa, the Caribbean and the Diaspora who are driving innovation, youth empowerment, economic transformation and resilience.

The recognition places Jamaica’s tourism leadership firmly on the global stage and acknowledges Minister Bartlett’s pioneering role in transforming tourism resilience from a destination-level priority into a global development agenda. 

Among his landmark contributions is the establishment of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre in Jamaica, which has emerged as an international platform for helping tourism destinations anticipate, prepare for and recover from disruptions, including climate change, pandemics, geopolitical shocks and other global crises.

The Jamaican leader also championed the charge for the designation of February 17 as Global Tourism Resilience Day by the United Nations, helping to elevate resilience as a central pillar of the international tourism conversation. “

This recognition from Africa, in the beautiful nation of Mozambique, is deeply significant,” said Minister Bartlett. “It affirms that resilience is a shared language between the Caribbean and Africa. From Maputo to Montego Bay, we face many of the same climate threats, economic vulnerabilities and development challenges, and we must build solutions together.”

Minister Bartlett’s work has championed a tourism model that places people, communities, youth, innovation and small states at the centre of tourism development, while advocating for greater international cooperation and investment in the capacity of destinations to withstand and recover from global shocks.

The three-day PYNE Awards Africa 2026 in Maputo will bring together Heads of State, Ministers, business leaders, investors, youth leaders and other influential stakeholders to examine the future of African leadership, investment, innovation and tourism growth.

A press release from the Jamaican Ministry of Tourism says Minister Bartlett’s recognition “is also a powerful affirmation that the country’s tourism leadership is influencing the global conversation—not only about how destinations grow, but about how they prepare, adapt, recover and create lasting benefits for their people.”

Watch Minister Bartlett’s recent interview with TMR Canada Editor-in-Chief John Kirk here as they discuss his role in advancing the work of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre.