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Janet Silvera, Hospitality Jamaica Coordinator
Four months ago, his appointment as chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) and director of tourism sparked controversy in the local travel and tourism industry, as he confronted tradition.
The past 17 months for John Lynch will no doubt appear in his memoirs as one of the most interesting periods in his life. The tourism director, who is well respected worldwide, came directly from the private sector facing a very complex period of market uncertainty and a global financial crisis that threatened to wreak havoc.
No honeymoon
"There was no honeymoon for me, there are people who thought I was crazy when I took on this assignment," he revealed in an exclusive interview with Hospitality Jamaica two weeks ago.
Not only was there no honeymoon period, but if he wasn't strong he could easily have wilted under the predictions of a 30 per cent decline in tourist arrivals for the winter tourist season, which officially ends today.
With conviction, the JTB chairman said, "That (30 per cent decline in tourist arrivals) did not happen, which is a little bit gratifying."
He is convinced that his impressive team leading the charge in North America, Canada, the UK and Europe did a lot of things right ensuring none of the predictions came to past.
Change in marketing strategy
The thrust involved a change in marketing in relation to advertising.
"We are focusing more on cable, and are less dependent on city advertising," Lynch said, adding that cable has the capability of reaching the hinterlands of America, where people have the spending power.
"Through cable television, we are now tapping into places such as Little Rock-Arkansas, the Dubuque and Iowa," he added.
Air Jamaica and beyond
While having a captive audience is integral to the mix, airlift is pivotal to the future of Jamaica's tourism, "and this is where legacy carriers like American Airlines play a vital role," he says.
"When you are able to penetrate those markets through legacy carriers, your cash register goes bingo," he argued, pointing to the fact that had it not been for legacy carriers, Jamaica would not have been kept afloat.
With the new thrust, he said, the team's strategy in the last 17 months was to develop "connections, connections and more connections, and we have succeeded, but are aware that we have a far way to go."
Careful not to give away too much information on any current negotiations, he admitted that there were ongoing talks with a major airline interested in filling the void left by Air Jamaica's exit from Los Angeles.
"The carrier we are talking with now plies feeder airports including Oakland, John Wayne, San Francisco, San Diego and Seattle, Washington. This carrier is able to collect these people and filter them into Montego Bay and that is where we are headed," the JTB chairman said.
Keen on maintaining and sustaining the close relationship with the island's airline partners, Lynch said the Jamaica Tourist Board has a key person with responsibility for this area.
"Our regional director in charge of relationships with the tour operators and airlines, Tony King, knows load factors and has been doing an unbelievable job," he stated, pointing out that he wasn't aware of any other Caribbean island able to do what Tony King does.
Trending back to travel agents
Coming out of a winter season that was reasonable and with all that is happening across the world, the JTB chairman and director of tourism said the plan was to strengthen the summer by bringing in close to 1,400 travel agents here next month.
"Just like we did the winter stimulus, we are trying to do a summer stimulus with PR and advertising behind it to make Jamaica the place to visit, June, July and August," he informed.
Noting that the market is seeing a subtle change, he said, "With all of this tidal wave, there is a trend back to travel agents because people want a warm and friendly voice to hold on to."
In keeping with the trend, he said that a motivated and educated sales person is the best tool a traveller will ever have, "And the Jamaican product has never been better", making mention of the multibillion-dollar state-of-the-art airports that were recently refurbished, the road network system and the new and improved hotel inventory.
Admitting that the Sangster International Airport (SIA) was still struggling with unnecessary bureaucracy in some cases, Lynch feels that some of the red tape could be cut from the system, empowering Jamaicans.
"And the green line needs to be a real green line (customs) and there is a need for senior officers walking the floors ensuring that people travelling with children get out of the airport quicker, especially on a Saturday and Sunday when we have close to 10,000 people coming through daily."
Good road systems and a host of fabulous attractions
The JTB chairman said he was extremely pleased with the upgraded road network leading to the major resorts and the fact that there are 159 diversified licensed attractions. "There is no other Caribbean country that has that," he boasted, paying tribute to the amazing Chukka Caribbean Adventures, the historical Outameni Experience and fantastic Mystic Mountains which separate the island from the pack.
Hotel Product
A further look reveals a hotel product that is in the best shape ever, from the new Spanish resorts to the existing plants that have been refurbished taking on a brand- new appearance. To top it, "people are leaving Jamaica very happy," he said.
One area the tourism director seemed not too enthusiastic about was the emerging markets that were touted constantly in 2008 as a possible saving grace. That market may have taken a back seat owing to the economic turmoil in non-traditional markets in Europe, lack of direct link to China and the downturn in India. He said he had his eyes set on having a flight out of Russia, but that country is going through its own economic challenges.
"The current economy has frightened prospective investors, people who would have been prepared to take a risk," he declared.
The island's biggest summer market out of mainland Europe, Spain, he said, has three million people out of work, and at least one tour operator from that market has indicated a reduction in flights, "the demand is just not there from people coming north," Lynch said.
He was, however, optimistic about Germany holding its own for the summer and winter.
Taking his attention to another market, his sights are now set on Latin America. "We are hoping to get a charter out of Brazil this winter," he told Hospitality Jamaica.
He added: "We are in talks with American Airlines and Delta to do deals with them to promote Jamaica in Latin America and we are also having discussing with LANChile (Chile based LAN Airlines) and Copa airlines with the hope of getting them to fly back into Montego Bay."
John Lynch's greatest satisfaction is to see a farmer's truck pulled up outside the gates of a resort, supplying fresh fruits and vegetables grown right here in Jamaica.
janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com
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