分类： business

KINGSTON, Jamaica — In a development reshaping the global cannabis landscape, the Ganja Growers and Producers Association of Jamaica (GGPAJ) has publicly hailed the United States’ decision to reclassify cannabis from a strict Schedule I controlled substance to a less restrictive Schedule III, framing the policy shift as both a landmark opening and a critical wake-up call for Jamaica’s homegrown cannabis sector. The GGPAJ outlined its stance in an official press statement released Tuesday, breaking down the far-reaching implications of the U.S. policy change for Jamaican producers.

Organizers of the groundbreaking Caribbean marketing gathering IMPACT x Mystique 2026 are reimagining what a industry conference can be, promising attendees far more than a schedule of passive lectures—they are delivering a fully immersive, interactive professional experience. In an official media release issued Tuesday, event leaders confirmed that beloved multi-talented media figure Khadine “Miss Kitty” Wilkinson has been selected to anchor the first-ever edition of the event, tapping her one-of-a-kind mix of high energy, sharp communication skills and innate cultural awareness to lift up marketing innovation across Jamaica and the broader Caribbean region.

Unlike standard industry events that prioritize speaker rosters over attendee experience, IMPACT x Mystique 2026 centers its immersive design around the quality of connection and conversation, organizers say. The event will draw dozens of the most forward-thinking minds in contemporary global and regional marketing, but the delivery, framing and activation of ideas will set the gathering apart. At the heart of this vision is Wilkinson, a versatile host whose dynamic range has allowed her to reimagine every stage she has worked on.

A trained attorney with decades of experience in media, Wilkinson brings a rare combination of rigorous intellectual depth and nuanced cultural fluency that lets her connect equally comfortably with C-suite executives, creative leaders and everyday consumers, the release notes. Her ability to shift seamlessly between different tones, audiences and industry contexts makes her uniquely positioned to lead a cross-sector platform like IMPACT, with its focus on bridging global best practices and local market needs.

Slated for April 30 to May 1, 2026 at Kingston’s AC Hotel, the two-day conference will welcome more than 300 attendees including marketing leaders, business executives, startup founders and content creators. The core agenda focuses on a critical question for Caribbean brands: how to scale and grow in local markets while competing effectively on the global stage. With a program curated by both global industry heavyweights and regional marketing pioneers, the event aims to balance substantive industry insight with dynamic, engaging interaction—with Wilkinson setting the tone for that balance from start to finish.

In her own preview of the event, Wilkinson outlined five core experiences attendees can expect when they arrive:

First, she is bringing high-energy facilitation that keeps audiences invested from the opening minute. Rejecting the dry, lecture-style format of traditional conferences, Wilkinson says she will bring a sustained energy that keeps attendees locked in. “These are important conversations, but they shouldn’t feel like a lecture,” she explained, promising a dynamic atmosphere where ideas are not just presented, but felt, with a pace that maintains engagement across the full two days.

Second, attendees will get clear, accessible breakdowns of complex industry shifts. The conference agenda covers cutting-edge, often complex topics from artificial intelligence integration to data strategy and modern integrated marketing systems. Wilkinson’s role is not to oversimplify these critical conversations, but to ensure key insights land with every attendee. “My job is to make sure people actually get it,” she said. “Not just hear it.” The end goal is to create a space where experts translate big ideas into practical takeaways, so every attendee leaves knowing exactly how to apply new knowledge to their own work.

Third, the event will tie global thinking to local Caribbean application. The speaker roster includes senior leaders from global giants including LinkedIn, Google, Meta, YouTube and JPMorgan Chase, alongside prominent regional and local marketing leaders shaping the Caribbean landscape. “You’re going to hear global perspectives,” Wilkinson said. “But people should be able to see exactly where it fits for them.” The intention is not just to expose attendees to top-tier global thinking, but to help them map those insights to their own brands: attendees will leave able to identify gaps in their current strategy, confirm where their work is already aligned with global best practices, and learn how to adapt globally proven success principles to Caribbean market contexts.

Fourth, attendees will get direct, hands-on access to industry experts beyond the main stage. Rejecting the passive “listen only” model of most conferences, IMPACT is built for practical application. “This isn’t just about ideas,” Wilkinson noted. “It’s about what you can do with them.” Through interactive workshops hosted in the event’s dedicated “Control Room,” attendees will collaborate directly with experts across key focus areas including marketing system integration, content strategy, leadership development and burnout prevention for creative professionals. These sessions are built for active participation, not passive observation. Additionally, curated one-on-one meeting slots give attendees exclusive access to select speakers, creating space for personalized, targeted conversations that dive deeper into individual brand challenges.

Finally, every conversation will be rooted in a uniquely Caribbean cultural perspective that imported event formats cannot replicate. Wilkinson’s deep lived understanding of Caribbean culture and local audience behavior is one of her greatest assets to the event. “We have our own way of thinking, our own way of connecting,” she said. “Even when we’re talking about global ideas, it has to come back to how we operate here.” Her leadership ensures that no matter how global the topic, every conversation remains grounded in the reality of Caribbean markets, making all insights more relevant and actionable for local attendees.

As event preparations ramp up ahead of the 2026 gathering, Wilkinson’s appointment underscores the organizing team’s core mission: this is far more than a standard industry conference. It is a purpose-built platform designed to be experienced, felt, and carried forward to drive marketing growth across the Caribbean.

As Jamaica’s 2024 summer tourist season kicks into high gear, island officials are extending a dual invitation to global travelers: come enjoy the country’s world-famous beaches, culture and events – and stay for the robust investment opportunities emerging from a remarkably fast post-disaster recovery.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett made the call during an appearance on Fyah 105’s popular morning program *The BIM Show*, part of the outlet’s Radio Remote Week hosted at Sandals Ochi Beach Resort in the popular northern coastal town of Ocho Rios. He highlighted a stacked lineup of marquee summer events that draw crowds from across the globe, including the iconic Reggae Sumfest, Dream Weekend and Best Weekend Ever, as core draws for seasonal visitors.

Six months after Hurricane Melissa, one of the most destructive tropical systems to hit the Caribbean in recent decades, Bartlett said the speed of Jamaica’s reconstruction has surpassed all expectations. “After what was arguably the worst hurricane on the planet, you’d barely know we had one six months later,” he noted, crediting the rapid rebound to collective effort from Jamaican people, national leadership, and generous collaboration with the country’s global diaspora community.

In the first full quarter after the storm, Jamaica welcomed roughly one million international visitors, Bartlett reported, with the vast majority of hurricane-damaged hospitality properties already back to full operation. At the current pace of recovery, he projects the island will restore 90 percent of its pre-storm tourism capacity by the end of the calendar year.

Unlike many disaster-hit destinations that lose long-term airline partnerships, Jamaica has retained every single one of its international carrier connections – and even expanded its route network, according to Bartlett. Major airlines including Southwest, Breeze Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Wingo and Copa Airlines have all added new routes to the island in recent months, a clear sign of global industry confidence in Jamaica’s recovery trajectory.

Leading the charge for northern Jamaica’s tourist hub Ocho Rios is St Ann Mayor Michael Belnavis, who has rebranded the town as Jamaica’s “party capital” and is working to position it as a top global entertainment and ecotourism hub. “The entertainment industry here is extremely lucrative, and we’re investing in building it out to draw visitors year-round,” Belnavis explained, pointing to successful past events like the Easter We Vacay party series as proof of the parish’s growing global appeal.

Beyond cultural events, St Ann boasts some of the most diverse natural attractions in the Caribbean, headlined by the world-famous Dunn’s River Falls – which Belnavis called “the number one tourist attraction in the entire Caribbean.” The cascading, ocean-fed waterfall is joined by other iconic natural experiences including the Blue Hole, scenic river excursions, snorkeling, white-water rafting, and newer one-of-a-kind offerings like the Poco Loco floating bar. “This is a destination defined by its aquatic beauty, paired with endless sun, warm seas and an unmatched welcoming energy,” he added.

Ongoing infrastructure investments, including the recent opening of a new purpose-built conference centre, are also growing the parish’s appeal for business and meetings tourism, with Belnavis predicting a coming real estate boom across the Ocho Rios area as demand for visitor and investor properties rises.

Sicourney Jackson, public relations officer for the Jamaica Tourist Board, reinforced the official message during Radio Remote Week, which brought 21 international radio outlets from the United Kingdom and Canada to the island to showcase Jamaica’s post-hurricane readiness. “Right here, right now, Jamaica is open and ready to welcome you,” she said, echoing Bartlett’s call for travelers to support the country’s recovery with a visit. Jackson acknowledged that full reconstruction is still ongoing – the island is not yet back to 100 percent pre-storm capacity – but said progress has been steady and remarkable, crediting frontline tourism workers who have sacrificed personal comfort to speed the industry’s rebound.

As global interest in travel to Jamaica continues to climb, local tourism and government stakeholders frame the island’s rapid recovery as both a demonstration of extraordinary national resilience and an open invitation. Whether travelers are chasing world-class cultural festivals, one-of-a-kind ecotourism adventures, or high-growth investment opportunities, the message from Jamaica is clear: the island is open for visitors and for business.

Radio Remote Week, which hosted international and local media outlets across Ocho Rios’ top attractions, gave journalists a first-hand look at the destination’s recovery, with outings ranging from electric ATV adventures at Mystic Mountain to rides on the resort’s famous Olympic-inspired bobsled track, and visits to the popular Poco Loco floating bar to cap off the week.

MONTEGO BAY, St James — Jamaica’s leading annual tourism industry gathering, the Jamaica Product Exchange (JAPEX), organized by the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), will break with decades of tradition this year, hosting the flagship marketing event in Ocho Rios rather than its long-time home of Montego Bay. The sudden venue change is a direct response to ongoing room shortages across western Jamaica, as the region continues its slow recovery from the devastating impact of Category 5 Hurricane Melissa that struck last October.

Christopher Jarrett, president of the JHTA, confirmed the relocation in an interview with Jamaica Observer on Monday, noting that insufficient available accommodation in the Montego Bay area left industry leaders with no other viable option. For years, JAPEX has been held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, drawing thousands of global tourism stakeholders, travel buyers and hospitality operators each year while generating significant revenue for local hotels, restaurants and attractions across western Jamaica.

While Jarrett has not yet released details of the exact Ocho Rios venue set to host the 2026 edition of the event, he emphasized that the move is part of a broader, industry-wide adaptive strategy that will remain in place until western Jamaica’s tourism infrastructure fully rebounds from the hurricane damage.

“We intend to continue to pivot as best we can to ensure that the events are still in Jamaica — whether it’s in Ocho Rios, Montego Bay or Kingston,” Jarrett said, underscoring the association’s commitment to keeping the iconic industry event on Jamaican soil despite current challenges.

Industry insiders report that the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism segment has been hit particularly hard by post-hurricane disruptions across western Jamaica, a reality Jarrett openly acknowledged. “We are seeing some of that but we have been pivoting and moving it across the island,” he conceded.

Compounding the post-storm recovery challenges is ongoing geopolitical instability in the Middle East, which has driven a measurable drop in visitor arrivals from several of Jamaica’s traditional source markets. But Jarrett pointed to pre-emptive diversification efforts that the JHTA launched years before the current conflict, which are already beginning to offset losses in established markets.

“Over the last few years, there’s been a build-up in focus on the Latin America market and we’re seeing some of those results now. We remain optimistic because we expect that the Latin American market, which has been more vibrant in recent times, will take up some of the slack that we’ll lose from the United States,” Jarrett explained.

The veteran hospitality leader stressed that pro-active mitigation work carried out by the JHTA and its public and private sector partners has put Jamaica in a strong position to navigate the overlapping economic and infrastructure shocks. “We are concerned, we are definitely concerned but I’m just saying that whatever we should have been doing to mitigate this situation that exists now, we were already doing,” he said.

He highlighted expanded air access as a key driver of growth in new source markets, noting that Copa Airlines has increased flight capacity to Jamaica from Latin American hubs. “we are hopeful and optimistic that notwithstanding the fallout in the US market that we’ll see some pick-up,” he added.

While Jarrett admitted that Jamaica’s tourism sector has not yet returned to the pre-storm, pre-conflict level of activity that stakeholders hope for, he said the industry is doubling down on promoting the island’s core competitive advantages: safety, security and a seamless travel experience for international visitors, in partnership with the state-run Jamaica Tourist Board.

Beyond attracting international visitors, the industry is also turning to domestic consumers to fill empty room inventories, ramping up promotion of domestic staycations. Jarrett noted that while national campaign coordination has been left to individual property operators, many hotels have already launched targeted promotions and discounted rates for Jamaican residents.

“if you talk to the hoteliers individually, they will tell you that they’ve been encouraging staycations. You may have seen a few ads out for special rates for locals and so on,” he added.

That call for domestic support was echoed by Kerry Ann Quallo-Casserly, chair of the JHTA’s Montego Bay chapter, who urged Jamaicans who typically travel abroad for vacation to choose domestic getaways to support the recovering industry. “Locals who would normally go to places like Dubai, USA should choose staycations,” she urged.

Global financial markets kicked off a high-stakes trading week with mixed trading across equities and rising crude oil prices on Monday, as diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions between Iran and the United States hit an unexpected standstill. What began as a surge of optimism over potential new negotiations between Washington and Tehran over the weekend quickly fizzled out, after former US President Donald Trump called off a planned meeting between negotiating envoys this past Saturday.

The breakthrough in hopes came after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s diplomatic visit to Islamabad over the weekend, which spurred early speculation that both sides could return to the bargaining table to resolve ongoing conflict. However, on Monday, Araghchi publicly placed blame for the collapsed talks squarely on Washington, citing what he called “excessive demands” from US negotiators during the first and only planned round of negotiations in Pakistan. He also reaffirmed that unobstructed safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the critical global chokepoint for energy shipments that remains largely closed amid the ongoing standoff, is a non-negotiable priority for the international community.

Speaking to Fox News, Trump downplayed tensions following the cancellation, noting that Iran could reach out to initiate new talks at any time if it is willing to negotiate, and added that the scrapped meeting does not mean a return to open military hostilities. According to anonymous sources familiar with the proposal cited by US news outlet Axios over the weekend, Iran had tabled a new peace proposal that would prioritize reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the US naval blockade of the waterway, while pushing controversial nuclear negotiations back to a future date. That proposal had been enough to temper sharp gains in crude oil markets, as traders held out some residual hope that a diplomatic agreement could still be reached eventually.

Against this geopolitical backdrop, both benchmark global crude oil contracts climbed higher on Monday. Brent crude, the global benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil trade, pushed above $108 per barrel, lifted by persistent concerns over disrupted energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, which carries roughly a fifth of all global oil shipments. Gains were held in check however by lingering hopes that the new Iranian proposal could open a path to a diplomatic resolution.

Global stock markets traded unevenly through the session, as investors shifted to a cautious wait-and-see approach ahead of a packed week of monetary policy decisions from major central banks and a wave of high-profile corporate earnings reports. On Wall Street, both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite posted small incremental gains to close the day at new all-time record closing highs, bucking the broader cautious trend. In contrast, the Dow Jones Industrial Average pulled back from recent highs, joining leading indices across Europe and Asia that finished the trading session in negative territory.

Derren Nathan, head of equity research at leading UK financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown, noted that investor optimism for a quick diplomatic breakthrough on Iran was always muted from the start. “It may be that hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough were pretty faint to start with, and markets are now in wait-and-see territory ahead of a heavy week of earnings and economic touchpoints,” Nathan explained.

With energy prices remaining elevated and persistent inflationary pressures still being felt across major advanced economies, market analysts broadly expect the US Federal Reserve will hold interest rates steady at its policy meeting on Wednesday. The Federal Reserve’s decision will be followed by similar policy announcements from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England later in the week, with all three central banks widely projected to keep borrowing costs unchanged as they assess incoming economic data.

Leading global music streaming platform Spotify has announced strong first-quarter financial and user growth results, with key metrics hitting or exceeding the company’s earlier projections, the firm confirmed in a statement out of its Stockholm headquarters Tuesday.

By the end of the first three months of the year, Spotify’s total monthly active users (MAUs) climbed to 761 million, edging past the company’s own guidance of 759 million. Its base of paid premium subscribers also hit 293 million, landing exactly in line with internal forecasts.

“We surpassed 760 million MAU, delivered on the subscriber growth we aimed to achieve, and saw healthy engagement from existing users, reactivations and new users alike,” said Alex Norstrom, one of Spotify’s current co-chief executives, in the official release.

The leadership structure at Spotify has shifted recently: founder Daniel Ek stepped down from the chief executive role at the start of 2026, passing day-to-day leadership to co-CEOs Norstrom and Gustav Soderstrom. Ek remains closely involved with the company, however, staying on as active executive chairman to guide long-term strategy.

On the financial side, first-quarter total revenue hit 4.5 billion euros, equal to roughly $5.3 billion U.S. dollars. That marks an 8% year-over-year increase from the same period last year. Operating income saw even steeper growth, jumping 40% annually to 715 million euros for the quarter.

Looking ahead to the near term, Spotify has laid out new near-term targets. The firm projects that by the end of the second quarter in June, it will grow its MAU base to 778 million and expand its paid subscriber count to 299 million.