Carrole Anne Marie Guntley, a leading Caribbean tourism professional with multi-sectoral experience and proficiency in the tourism industry, has established an international reputation for innovation and leadership in the field. Her thirty-seven year professional career has been spent entirely in tourism, working in key areas such as the hotel sector, Jamaica's National Tourism Organization (NTO) and the airline industry.
Ms. Guntley earned both a professional diploma in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Administration and a Bachelor’s degree in Hotel & Tourism Management from Ryerson Polytechnic Institute in Toronto, Canada and she is also a certified professional travel agent, trained by the International Air Transport Association.
Ms. Guntley started her tourism career at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel as Executive Sales Manager in 1976. After two years, she assumed the post of Director of Sales at the Rose Hall Inter-Continental Hotel & Country Club, now the Hilton Rose Hall Hotel. Her marketing and sales savvy as well as acumen for public relations propelled her to national attention. It was these strengths, which occasioned her swift ascent to Director of Tourism in 1984.
As Director of Tourism, Ms. Guntley has been credited with establishing Jamaica's tourism on a growth path after a period of decline in the local industry. It was during her tenure that Jamaica achieved the landmark target of hosting one million visitors in a single year and, earned the reputation in the marketplace as being an all-year-round destination. She also launched the Jamaica Product Exchange (JAPEX), Jamaica’s first and only sustained travel trade show.
From 1990-1992, Ms. Guntley served as European Marketing Manager at the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), based in London, where she developed and implemented marketing programmes for the European Chapters of CTO.
Throughout her professional career, she has been the recipient of several awards for her work in tourism marketing including the Prime Minister’s Proclamation of Appreciation for her service to Jamaica’s tourism industry, awarded in 1995.
She joined BWIA West Indies Airways in 1992 as Area Manager and was credited with initiating extensive efforts to develop intra-Caribbean travel and tourism. Her tenure at BWIA ended in 1999, when she was appointed Director General in the then Ministry of Tourism and Sport, now the Ministry of Tourism, where she continues to steer the tourism industry and guide policy development and implementation for Jamaica.
In 2003, she received the prestigious National Honour of Order of Distinction (Commander Class) for her invaluable contribution to the development of her country’s tourism industry. And, after twenty-eight (28) years in the industry, was awarded a Master’s Degree with Distinction in Hospitality and Tourism Management in 2004, from the Revans University.
In 2006, Ms. Guntley was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Management by Revans University.
In 2011, the Bureau of Women’s Affairs awarded Ms. Guntley the Jamaica 50 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Tourism.
An avid events and entertainment planner, Ms. Guntley enjoys, in her recreational time, organizing varied events including those that involve the culinary and performing arts.
Ms. Guntley is a committed Anglican, and is the mother of Oliver-Hugh Guntley.
