Winter tourist season starts today: never waste a good crisis
RESEARCHERS will have to dig deep into the archives to find when last things have been this thin for the winter tourist season — which officially runs from today to april 30, 2021 — thanks to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, who loathes bringing anything but good news, swallowed hard when he reported recently that, based on hotel bookings and air seats reserved, Jamaica could see approximately 400,000 visitor arrivals over the four-month season, and annual revenues of a projected Us$1.5 billion.
This is a big come down from the impressive Us$4.4 billion Jamaica raked in from tourism last year, before the novel coronavirus swept the world, devastating every economy in its path.
The drop in tourist arrivals in the Caribbean was expected to be a steep 75 per cent for the last three quarters of 2020, and the regional industry is expected to contract by 20 to 30 per cent this year — the most severe contraction since record-keeping began in 1900.
Last year, the travel and tourism sector contributed nearly Us$59 billion to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the Caribbean. On average, the tourism industry directly contributes up to about 33 per cent of GDP and over 52 per cent of export receipts, according to the latest figures.
The battering taken by the Caribbean is not surprising as the region depends heavily on the United states market for the bulk of its visitors, most of whom had to stay put at home, where coronavirus deaths passed the gut-wrenching 300,000 mark yesterday.
But even if the revenue outlook is grim, the attitude of the tourism industry is upbeat, reflecting Mr Bartlett’s own optimism that: “The good news is that we’re doing the right thing to make sure that people come and feel good about coming, and the protection we’re giving through the various protocols that we’ve established and the compliance that we have demonstrated.”
The prevailing attitude is encouraged by the approach of the sandals Resorts group, which is owned by Mr Gordon “Butch” stewart, the chairman of this newspaper. “Never waste a good crisis,” Mr stewart said after news that the hotel chain had bought two Jewel properties in Jamaica and was expanding to the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao as well as st Vincent and the Grenadines.
Jamaica is set to open a new Linkages Centre of Excellence that is planned to provide “authentic Jamaican experiences with elements such as local products, health and wellness offerings, local entertainment, and the use of the latest technology to drive traffic from nearby hotels”.
Much of the optimism is based on the success of the COVID-19 protocols established in the highly successful Resilience Corridor which is, in effect, a safe zone for tourism, or by making a manageable geographical area ensuring that new hygiene protocols are rigorously implemented.
Fears that visitors could either bring the virus or contract it here have not materialised, encouraging visitors and airlines to begin returning. since Jamaica reopened its borders to tourists on June 15, stopover arrivals hit more than 200,000, with earnings of Us$250 million between June and september.
The light at the end of the tourism tunnel has shone brighter with the development of a vaccine to counter the coronavirus. Things can only go up from here.
Except for the views expressed in the column above, the articles published on this page do not necessarily represent the views of the Jamaica Observer.
sh I could draw a crowd to the conditions that have followed the Gordon Town Road breaking away that took place on November 8, 2020.
We have been faced with doubled, and sometimes tripled transportation costs. We have to traverse a dangerous path to get to our jobs, walking on a narrow strip of land, maybe less than two feet.
At evenings the roads are sometimes dark and lonely.
We have massive noise pollution as well, considering unwanted bikers ride up and down the road corridors before, during and after the imposed curfew. The police do nothing, which is surprising, because many of these bikers are not fit nor legal for the Jamaican roadways.
What pains Gordon Town residents is our Member of Parliament (MP) coming to the breakaway only to let us know that it will cost $200 million to fix a roadway that had been reported to her before the recent breakaway. We have been pleading with authorities to realign the roadway by digging away the side of the road to create a new lane while they work on a permanent fixture. But our MP said she is looking for a footpath for us in the bushes that will be safe. I just hope nobody gets robbed or raped.
Our MP has yet to have a meeting in Gordon Town Square to hear from the people, but posts are made on social media. We are suffering and we feel like no one cares because the election has already taken place. Should we block the roadway?
Yet, despite Savage Pen Road’s infeasibility, in my books, they spent $60 million on a path that cannot accept double-lane traffic.
Residents who do not drive won’t be able to access that road considering taxis will not traverse this path. The elderly, who often take public transportation provided by Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) buses, do not have access to this service anymore unless they walk beyond the breakaway — and good distance beyond, too — to find a bus stop.
I am just concerned because how garbage is now being disposed of and collected for the community at large. It piles up and smells like death.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Juliet Holness, MP for the Gordon Town area, please apply urgency to this matter. We know you both can absolutely do better.
Ensure that the road has lights, at least, and have a police officer stationed there.