Meagan Drillinger
The Third Global Tourism Resilience Day Conference and Expo, held last month at the Princess Grand Hotel in Hanover, Jamaica, brought together top industry leaders, policymakers and sustainability advocates to explore strategies for ensuring tourism resilience in an ever-changing world. A key takeaway? The future of travel isn't just about where we go, it's about how we navigate disruptions -- and digital transformation is leading the charge.
Jamaica tourism has put a strong emphasis on digital transformation, using technology to fundamentally change how businesses communicate with the public, and it is driving real-world results, according to tourism minister Edmund Bartlett. The island has implemented AI-driven marketing strategies, enhanced customer experiences with chatbots and streamlined supply chains through digital platforms. Bartlett emphasized that embracing those technologies is essential for the travel industry's future.
"The primary objectives of the conference were to discuss the essence of building the capacity within tourism to understand digitization and to be able to navigate through the implications of it in terms of what types of tools are going to be necessary to create the new experiences of the future," Bartlett told me.
AI and digital tools aid small businesses
Jamaica is using AI and digital platforms to help small enterprises that rely on the tourist trade to compete on a global scale. Bartlett gave the example of a small-business pudding vendor in Ocho Rios who was not doing any online marketing. But after adopting the practice, he has been able to expand his customer base worldwide.
"We want to enable smaller players to be able to access markets in different parts of the world," he said. "Now guests who are staying at resorts or Airbnbs are making stops into his shop because they want to come visit 'the pudding man.'"
Similarly, Jamaica's ALEX (Agri-Linkages Exchange) platform is revolutionizing the local supply chain by connecting small farmers directly with hotels and resorts. In the past year alone, this digital tool has facilitated over 1 billion Jamaican dollars in sales, ensuring fresher, locally sourced produce while boosting the incomes of small-scale growers.
By expanding market access for local businesses and strengthening supply chains, Jamaica is attempting to reduce its dependence on external suppliers and middlemen, enhancing economic opportunities for small entrepreneurs but also striving for a more sustainable tourism sector that can better withstand external disruptions.
Lessons for the global travel industry
Jamaica listed four key points of its digital initiative for destinations looking to enhance their tourism resilience.
• AI-driven marketing: Leveraging AI tools to analyze traveler behavior and optimize outreach, increasing return on investment. Jamaica is using AI-powered recombination systems for customized itineraries, marketing based on customer data, chatbots for 24/7 support and analytics to forecast changes in demand.
• Supply chain digitization: Connecting small producers with the tourism industry through online platforms to foster economic growth.
• Cybersecurity and Crisis Management: Implementing robust digital security measures to protect traveler data and maintain clear communication during crises.
• Education and training: Integrating crisis management and sustainability into school curricula to prepare future generations of tourism professionals. The Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre was established at universities in Jamaica with the intention of building out a space for research and academic study around resilience-building. These centers have also been established at schools in Kenya; Bulgaria; Amman, Jordan; Canada; the U.K.; and in Washington.
"The objective overall is to heighten awareness of building resilience in tourism," Bartlett said. "It's recognizing the vulnerabilities that are inherent in tourism. But the capacity we have is to foretell, mitigate, manage, recover -- and recover quickly -- and then to thrive."