The 56 Commonwealth countries have been urged co-operate to support tourism recovery from the pandemic.
Jamaica’s tourism minister called for “tourism convergence” to reposition the Commonwealth.
Edmund Bartlett was speaking at a meeting with senior directors and advisors of the Commonwealth Secretariat.
He said: “Tourism is a confluence of many economic activities and social engagements and is driven by consumption. Tourism also has the fastest convertibility rate of all industries, so it is the fastest way to generate foreign exchange outside of grants.
“So, I think that the Commonwealth, which has 56 countries, 2.5 billion people and large group of highly tourism dependent countries plus large countries, is an enormous opportunity for tourism convergence as an instrument of recovery.”
The Commonwealth Secretariat is the intergovernmental organisation which co-ordinates and carries out much of the Commonwealth’s work, supported by a network of more than 80 organisations.
Bartlett added: “Now is the time for us work together within the Commonwealth to help the recovery of tourism through strategic approaches like harmonising visa protocol, increasing air connectivity; development of multi-destination experiences and human capital development to build capacity.
We have enough people and ideas within the Commonwealth to strengthen our tourism activities in these countries.”
He suggested a meeting of Commonwealth tourism ministers to discuss strategies as part of recovery efforts.