The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus will once again host the Mona Academic Conference from Friday, August 26 to Sunday August 28, coinciding with the start of the 2005/2006 academic year. This year’s conference is being held under the theme, “Tourism: The Driver of Change in the Jamaican Economy?”

This year’s theme underscores the importance the University places on tourism, and has developed a programme which will bring together academics and practitioners in the field to examine current problems and opportunities with the view to fostering social and economic growth for Jamaica and the Caribbean as a whole.

The Conference’s formal opening ceremony will take place on Friday, August 26 at 6:00 p.m. at the Undercroft, the Senate Building at Mona, with Distinguished Fellow, the Most Honourable Edward Seaga, giving the keynote address. Minister of Information, the Hon. Burchell Whiteman, will be launching the compilation of last year’s conference presentations, entitled, “Revisiting Tertiary Education Policy in Jamaica: Towards Personal Gain or Public Good?” This will be followed by two days of presentations and discussions that will take place in the Social Sciences Lecture Theatre, Faculty of Social Sciences.

Presentations will focus on six sub-themes. These are: Evolution of the Tourist Industry in Jamaica; Travel and Tourism Vulnerability Issues; The Value of Tourism to the Jamaican Economy; The Tourism Product: What it is and What it could be and Industry Challenges.

Conference presenters will be drawn from Jamaica and the Caribbean, specifically Jamaica’s tourism sector, and include hoteliers, policy makers, as well as academics, and other experts in the field. These include, Jean Holder on “Branding and Transportation”, Karl Hendrickson on “Community Planning and Development: Bringing Tourism to the People”, Dr. Henry Lowe on “Promoting Health as Part of the Tourism Product”, Alan Chastenet on “Tourism is Now the Global Leader: Are We Making the Most of It?”, Dennis Morrison on “Linkages of Tourism with the Jamaican Economy: Levels of Retention”, Paul Pennicook on “The All-Inclusive Concept: Improving the Benefits to the Jamaican Economy”, Edmund Bartlett on “Challenges & Opportunities in
the Tourism Sector”, Dr. Anne Crick on “E.P./Small Hotels: Prospects for the Future”, Dr. Derrick Deslandes on “The Role of International Chains and How they Impact Jamaica’s Development”, Dr. Wesley Hughes on “Economics of Tourism: Are we Winning?”, Dr. Chandi Jayawardena “Attitudes, Beliefs & Customs: Assets or Liabilities to Tourism”, Dr Anthony Vendryes on “Wellness: Combining Health and Pleasure, among many others.

Their presentations will form the basis for interactive discussion on a number of panels that will be established to facilitate the exchange of views between panel members and persons attending the conference and will be published in the form of a book which will be available to the public.

The Conference will close with a presentation by Vice Chancellor Emeritus, Sir Alister McIntyre.

The Mona Academic Conference 2005 organized and sponsored by the Office of the Principal in collaboration with the Research and Policy Group at the Mona School of Business, is free and open to the public.

Interested persons may access the complete conference programme by visiting the conference website at http://www.mona.uwi.edu/conferences/2005/monaconf.