By the Caribbean Journal staff

Jamaica has appointed a new director of visitor safety and experience, according to the country’s Ministry of Tourism.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has tapped Major Dave Walker to the role, in which he will further review the recent island-wide security audit of Jamaica’s tourism sector.

“Major Walker comes to the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) with a wealth of security experience and has been directed to critically review findings from the initial report with a view to analyzing the data and providing recommendations on constructing a new architecture for security in the sector,” Bartlett said in a statement.

The move comes after Bartlett last year ordered the “intensive security audit” of hotel properties across Jamaica.

The aim of the audit was to “identify gaps and ensure a strategy of a safe, secure and seamless destination for visitors and locals alike.”

“An important outcome from this further review will be the creation of a Manual on Tourism Ethics, a first of its kind, which will guide not just the expectations of security infrastructure in the sector but how we interface with each other,” Bartlett said.

— CJ