Cayman travel professionals praise ‘awesome Jamaica’

TRAVEL PROFESSIONALS from the Cayman Islands, including representatives of Cayman Airways and travel agencies, have given top marks to Jamaica as a tourism destination. The group, hosted by the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), in association with Cayman Airways, participated in a familiarisation tour of the island from October 4-6, which saw them touring various hotels and attractions, and sampling the island’s cuisine and culture. Trudy Dixon, Caribbean sales manager of the JTB, explained that this familiarisation tour was “the latest in a series of education tours for agents across the Caribbean designed to update them on what Destination Jamaica offers”. Dixon noted that “the room stock in Jamaica is constantly expanding across large and small hotels, international and local brands, all-inclusive and EP, coupled with Jamaica’s growing reputation for the best food, engaging culture, music and entertainment, our popularity is at an all-time high.” She highlighted that the Cayman group, in addition to experiencing hotels and restaurants, attended the Go! Jamaica Travel Expo at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel, where they met over 30 hotel operators and suppliers from across the island. They also toured the Kingston waterfront, the Blue Mountain Coffee Café and the UCC Coffee Estate, and Mystic Mountain in Ocho Rios Gary Bromfield, marketing programmes coordinator – commercial, Cayman Airways Ltd, described the visit as “awesome, enlightening and informative”. He noted that he was particularly impressed by the new, expanded and refurbished hotels in Kingston, including the ‘R’, Spanish Court, Courtleigh and Strawberry Hill. The Red Bones Restaurant in Kingston and Miss T’s in Ocho Rios also received high praises. Lillian Bodden of Cayman Travel Services said that she was excited to return to Cayman and put her updated knowledge of Destination Jamaica to use. She said: “I sell a lot of tickets to customers coming to Kingston and some travelling to other Caribbean islands via Kingston. Having seen the properties first-hand, I can now give even better recommendations, depending on my customer’s interests.” Bodden noted that one of the attractions she will definitely be recommending to her customers is Kingston’s Bob Marley Museum, where she learnt a great deal about the reggae icon as well as the country’s musical heritage. “The tour was brilliant, the tour guides well informed and on point,” she said.