COVID-19 burns summer tourist bookings

Brace for a rough ride, says JHTA

COVID-19 HAS slowed the pace of the island’s tourist arrivals for the summer by 40 per cent, says Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association President Omar Robinson.

“We are in a wait-and-see position at this time, but the estimate of the loss to the tourism industry is significant and we are in for a rough ride,” Robinson told The Gleaner hours after leaving a JHTA-Ministry of Tourism stakeholders meeting in Kingston.

Acknowledging the challenge it will pose for the economy, Robinson noted that at least one Montego Bay hotel was reporting cancellations of up to US$250,000 while an Ocho Rios property was forced to accept cancellations for more than 400 rooms last weekend. “It is an instant drying up of business from our main source markets in Europe, with the banning of flights from Italy, Germany, and France.”

Robinson, however, said that it was difficult to quantify the scale of the fallout, particularly in forward bookings because many US companies have forbidden their staff from travelling.

“It is during the summer months that we would get several incentive groups that travel bans have been placed on those types of groups by the management of those companies,” the JHTA president said.

In addition, local groups such as the Jamaica Employers’ Federation, which hosts its annual June conference in Ocho Rios, have scrapped events because several speakers and other guests are internationally based.