TUI Colourful Cultures Jamaica
Jamaica is well known for its cultural and creative industries, which have contributed immensely to its global image and national brand value. It’s main hub for tourism, Montego Bay, needs to position itself to capitalise on cultural tourism, which is increasingly in demand by visitors looking for diversified tourist offerings.
TUI Colourful Cultures Jamaica boosts the orange – or cultural – economy in Montego Bay. It fosters a vibrant creative ecosystem, showcasing Jamaican culture and empowering local creatives through training, collaboration and exposure.
In Jamaica, the cultural and creative industries – also known as the orange economy – present untapped potential to contribute to jobs, growth and the diversification of tourism experiences. Although there have been initiatives to boost the orange economy in the country these are mainly based in Kingston. As a result, creatives in Montego Bay have limited opportunities to access resources, training and exposure, and many talented artisans decide to leave the city to pursue opportunities elsewhere.
TUI Colourful Cultures Jamaica offers performing arts, music, crafts, fashion and digital media creatives in Montego Bay training opportunities to grow their entrepreneurial spirit and business skills, as well as opportunities to promote their work and preserve their culture.
120 creatives receive training through creative incubator workshops to improve their technical skills and business knowledge in areas such as business management, Intellectual Property and copywriting. In addition, 70 young people gain increased cultural skills by taking part in ideation bootcamps and workshops on storytelling techniques and micro-influencer activities.
The project also supports the promotion and preservation of local culture through the digitalisation of local stories and traditions of elderly community members – developing a digital repository and integrating the storytelling into community tourism experiences in Montego Bay.
TUI Colourful Cultures also enhances cultural tourism and income for creatives in Montego Bay through the development of unique cultural tour packages which expose local history and culture to tourists and enable creatives to earn more from their craft. At the same time, it engages hotels to promote local creatives and creative output in their offerings.
Project Partner
Target 8.9 is a global development agency initiated by TUI Care Foundation. It is dedicated to mobilising both non-financial and financial resources to create meaningful and sustainable impacts in local tourism destinations, aligned with target 8.9 of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This specific objective within the SDGs aims to promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all, with an emphasis on the tourism sector and highlighting local culture and products. Target 8.9’s primary focus is on fostering inclusive economic opportunities and social development, with a strong emphasis on conservation and landscape restoration.
