Black Immigrant Daily News

Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett, has issued an open call for budding entrepreneurs to submit ideas that can positively transform the tourism industry, to the Tourism Enhancement Fund’s Tourism Innovation Incubator by October 14, 2022.

The minister made this announcement on Friday at the University of the West Indies’ regional headquarters, during the launch of the Ministry of Tourism’s Tourism Innovation Incubator, which will nurture new and start-up tourism enterprises and take Jamaica’s tourism to a new level in fulfilment of the Ministry of Tourism’s Blue Ocean Strategy.

“We are very excited to launch our Tourism Innovation Incubator today and look forward to seeing 25 unique ideas in this first round that can add value to our industry. So, we urge you to get your ideas ready and submit them by October 14 and take a journey with us to strengthen our tourism offerings,” Minister Bartlett was quoted as saying in a release from the Ministry of Tourism.

He added that, “This initiative is very important to us because it is in keeping with our Blue Ocean Strategy, which will give us a comparative advantage in the marketplace. For us to sustain the industry in the face of increased competition, we must market and promote Jamaica as an unmatched travel option and the Caribbean destination of choice for tourists. This requires us to not only rebuild stronger but also to focus on our competitive advantages in the tourism value chain. “

The Tourism Innovation Incubator is being managed by the Tourism Enhancement Fund, through its Research and Risk Management Department. It is being executed with the assistance of partners such as the University of Technology’s Technology Innovation Centre and the Founder Institute. As well as members of the Tourism Incubator Task Force, which includes representatives from the National Export-Import Bank of Jamaica (EXIM Bank), Jamaica Business Development Corporation, Jamaica Hotel & Tourist Association, JHTA, University of Technology, Global Tourism Resilience & Crisis Management Centre, Tech Beach Retreat, and the University of West Indies.

Selection of the ideas is being done by a committee of members from TEF and the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), and in addition to being tourism products or representing technology in tourism, each idea must be an innovation or invention that will add value. Each participant will be required to outline how their idea will add value to the tourism landscape and provide indicators for measuring the same, such as tourism spend, visitor satisfaction, and contribution to the tourism workforce, etc. The idea must also have a significant effect on the tourism industry.

“The establishment of the Tourism Innovation Incubator represents a significant pivot in the way the TEF enhances the tourism sector and signals a change in risk appetite. The TEF now has a mechanism to transform innovative ideas into commercial opportunities. We do anticipate a positive response to this exciting initiative, knowing fully well that for tourism to work, we must all feel like we are a part of it. It’s a must that we strive for inclusiveness and for the betterment of our people,” said Minister Bartlett.

Additional submission criteria and application forms for the Tourism Innovation Incubator can be found on the TEF’s website at https://tef.gov.jm/tourism-incubator/.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

It’s been ten days since the Warriors rolled into Guyana, and who’ll disagree that the country had practically ground to a halt during that time?!! But it’s over now, and we can also agree that it’s been a roller coaster ride – and then some – from the thrill of those first four victories, which made us all believe once again that this would be THE year, to the agony of the ignominious defeat at the hands of the Tallawahs, which just crushed our spirits. Along with St Lucia, we’re the only territory that hasn’t won a championship in the ten years the CPL’s been around. Woeful and doleful!!

The question posed is how long will this felling of despondency last? And surely, the answer is “this, too, shall (soon) pass!! But, cumulatively, what effect will this “always the bridesmaid and never the bride” situation have on us?? That this year we weren’t even the bridesmaid, but the “flower girl”, just makes it worse. Are we going to be permanently derided as the “chokers” of the CPL? As it was, your Eyewitness was quite miffed when, at the start of the Guyana leg, some Guyanese influencers announced boldly over social media that, once again, the Warriors would crumble. How dare they?? But they’ve had the last laugh, haven’t they??

Now, some may say “it’s only a game”. But your Eyewitness asks: if that were true, why then the national mood of depression?? Truth of the matter is, it illustrates the fact that there’s precious little that we Guyanese – as a people – can cheer as one. And because we want that so badly, it’s not an inconsequential matter. It’s been said that a nation has to be a community that does things together. But then it’s really an IMAGINED COMMUNITY, since we can’t LITERALLY do the same things – but imagine that we do. Reading the newspaper in the morning, it was claimed, was one of those things we do together that bind us together. But can we say that if we rifle though our GUYANESE papers?? With their divergent positions on the same issues, one wonders if we’re on the same planet!! No…in Guyana, newspapers reflect our divisions!!

But Warrior Cricket did bring us together – probably the only thing that did so since the cataclysmic event of March 2, 2020 – which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. There has since been precious little for us to cheer about – period!! – much less to cheer as one. So, Warrior Cricket was – and IS – not just a game. It represents that search for the Holy Grail that we’ve all been seeking – to become a nation in which we can all say in unison: “We are Guyanese!!”

…less sleazy politics

Just when you thought our politics couldn’t fall any deeper into the gutter, up floats the story of two reporters colluding with a Brooklyn PNC-affiliated political type to use social media platforms to shakedown some local businessmen!! Your Eyewitness had already highlighted the potential of these Wild West platforms to intensify divisions in society – including politics – because of no oversight. Complaining to Facebook, for instance, merely earns the slanderer a ban for a couple of weeks…

But, in the story that’s still unfolding, a “news” site – created during the APNU/AFC’s desperate attempt to hijack the March 2020 elections – was used to post allegations about local businessmen, who’d then be threatened by the reporters that unless they coughed up the millions demanded, the post would be circulated even wider. The political type “spiced up” the local reports and circulated!! When there wasn’t even a smidgen of evidence that there was any truth in the allegations, the businessmen were told their reputation would still be ruined!!

O Tempora…O mores!!

…to fix Warrior heartbreak

Fans: And it’s too late, baby now it’s too late/though we really did try to make it/ Something inside has died/And I can’t hide and I just can’t fake it.

Warriors: No! No! No!!

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Black Immigrant Daily News

PARAMARIBO — De World Athletics Level II trainers cursus in sprints en horden is vrijdag van start gegaan in Paramaribo.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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