Jamaica and South Africa's tourism ministers met 03APR to discuss building a cooperation framework to make tourism for both countries a key driver of economic development. The two nations also agreed to further cooperation in the areas of human capital development, particularly training, and the building out of investment options to have South African investors look at product development in Jamaica. The African market of 1.3 billion people is being eyed as the next big visitor source market for Jamaica as the industry seeks to diversify beyond traditional markets in North America and Europe.
The tourism ministers also discussed prospects for introducing new flight services between the two countries. South Africa Airlines intends to re-enter the US and UK markets, and the ministers noted the potential for the airline to codeshare with Delta to route passengers from South Africa to Jamaica via ATL.
The ministers also discussed establishing a satellite Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) at the University of Johannesburg. The University of the West Indies, Mona, where the GTRCMC is headquartered, and the University of Johannesburg have collaborated numerous times already so both ministers say they believe they will work well together on the centre. The centre will serve the Southwest Africa tourism region.
