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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Tourism doing well but no time for complacency</SPAN>
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Thursday, December 21, 2006
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<P class=StoryText align=justify>From all indications, Jamaica is set to enjoy a bumper winter tourist season despite forecasts of warm winter weather in the United States from where we get more than 70 per cent of our visitors.<P class=StoryText align=justify>According to hoteliers and Tourism Minister Aloun Assamba, forward bookings are heavy - a good sign that our hotels will be relatively full, at least through March.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In fact, we have already started seeing an increase in the visitor flow, as data released by the Jamaica Tourist Board's very meticulous Research and Marketing Intelligence Unit show that we welcomed just over 1.5 million stopover visitors for the period January to November this year, a 15 per cent increase over the same months in 2005.
Cruise arrivals have also been increasing, with 1.18 million passengers visiting over January to November, a 17.6 per cent hike over the same period last year.<P class=StoryText align=justify>These figures say a lot for Jamaica, as they indicate that our tourism product has been able to remain attractive, despite the ugly episodes of violence that have been occurring in St James and other parishes across the country in recent weeks.
While we are happy with the performance of the tourism sector, and, indeed, would love to see the industry accomplish more, we must caution against any sense of complacency that we may feel while reviewing these figures.<P class=StoryText align=justify>For the cold, hard fact is that we have a serious crime problem that not only threatens an industry that provides tens of thousands of Jamaicans with a livelihood, but our very existence as a nation.
We cannot expect visitors to this country to feel safe if the safety of Jamaicans cannot be guaranteed by the state. The misguided few who revel in murder and mayhem cannot be allowed to dictate how the law-abiding majority live their lives.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The authorities, therefore, need to bring this problem under control if the country is to continue benefiting from the travel industry, because crime and tourism, as we all well know, are like oil and water.
And given the latest promotional push to open new markets, such as China, it makes even more sense that we create the kind of environment here that encourages tourism.<P class=StoryText align=justify>It's a huge task, we admit, because one vital element of reducing crime is by creating jobs which, in turn, requires an environment that guarantees security.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Last month's high murder toll is a clear indication that the reversal in the murder rate that we have seen this year, is not yet consolidated and the work must continue apace to rein in the murderers and plunderers.
But it can be done. For already we are seeing some transformation in communities where social intervention programmes are being implemented.<P class=StoryText align=justify>What we need to ensure, though, is that after being equipped with skills, the participants in these social intervention programmes are given a fair shot at employment.
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Thursday, December 21, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>From all indications, Jamaica is set to enjoy a bumper winter tourist season despite forecasts of warm winter weather in the United States from where we get more than 70 per cent of our visitors.<P class=StoryText align=justify>According to hoteliers and Tourism Minister Aloun Assamba, forward bookings are heavy - a good sign that our hotels will be relatively full, at least through March.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In fact, we have already started seeing an increase in the visitor flow, as data released by the Jamaica Tourist Board's very meticulous Research and Marketing Intelligence Unit show that we welcomed just over 1.5 million stopover visitors for the period January to November this year, a 15 per cent increase over the same months in 2005.
Cruise arrivals have also been increasing, with 1.18 million passengers visiting over January to November, a 17.6 per cent hike over the same period last year.<P class=StoryText align=justify>These figures say a lot for Jamaica, as they indicate that our tourism product has been able to remain attractive, despite the ugly episodes of violence that have been occurring in St James and other parishes across the country in recent weeks.
While we are happy with the performance of the tourism sector, and, indeed, would love to see the industry accomplish more, we must caution against any sense of complacency that we may feel while reviewing these figures.<P class=StoryText align=justify>For the cold, hard fact is that we have a serious crime problem that not only threatens an industry that provides tens of thousands of Jamaicans with a livelihood, but our very existence as a nation.
We cannot expect visitors to this country to feel safe if the safety of Jamaicans cannot be guaranteed by the state. The misguided few who revel in murder and mayhem cannot be allowed to dictate how the law-abiding majority live their lives.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The authorities, therefore, need to bring this problem under control if the country is to continue benefiting from the travel industry, because crime and tourism, as we all well know, are like oil and water.
And given the latest promotional push to open new markets, such as China, it makes even more sense that we create the kind of environment here that encourages tourism.<P class=StoryText align=justify>It's a huge task, we admit, because one vital element of reducing crime is by creating jobs which, in turn, requires an environment that guarantees security.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Last month's high murder toll is a clear indication that the reversal in the murder rate that we have seen this year, is not yet consolidated and the work must continue apace to rein in the murderers and plunderers.
But it can be done. For already we are seeing some transformation in communities where social intervention programmes are being implemented.<P class=StoryText align=justify>What we need to ensure, though, is that after being equipped with skills, the participants in these social intervention programmes are given a fair shot at employment.