Hotels struggle to find lodging for stranded Europeans

BY INGRID BROWN Senior staff reporter browni@jamaicaobserver.com

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

JAMAICAN hotels are struggling to find alternative accommodations for their guests stranded here because of the shutdown of airports across Europe, due to the eruption of the volcano Eyjafjalla in Iceland.

Wayne Cummings, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), said a number of local hotels have had to move out stranded visitors, some of whom have run out of money, to other suitable locations to make way for arriving guests.

According to Cummings, while hotels have been working overtime to accommodate their guests as best as possible, they had to ensure that guests arriving from North America and other regions were accommodated.

"We have a contractual agreement with these new guests who are coming in, and so we have to say to our British clients 'we can no longer keep you', and show them the alternatives," Cummings told the Observer Monday.

"When it first happened we thought three days at the worst, but once people's money began to run out, we realise that we are in a crisis mode," he added.

He made it clear that some hotels were doing everything to facilitate the stranded guests, such as providing them with free phone calls back to their countries, as well as helping them with their laundry.

However, he said some guests were becoming increasingly frustrated as they were unable to get confirmations from British Airways and Virgin Atlantic on their departure from Jamaica.

He fears that if the situation prolongs, "we will have even more serious issues".

He, however, added that even when airlift begins it would take some time to clear the backlog of passengers stranded since the volcano forced the shutdown of Europe's airspace last Thursday.

The JHTA will, meanwhile, be seeking the intervention of the tourism minister, Edmund Bartlett, in the matter.

Cummings said, too, that hoteliers would like the airlines, embassies and high commissions to help shoulder some of the costs to host the stranded visitors.

"We are the ones shouldering the anxiety and that of our guests, and no one has indicated to us how to assist their nationals," he said.

He added that while some tour operators, like Virgin Holiday tour, had opted to pay for the extended stay of their passengers many others were not so generous.

According to Cummings, the way the matter is handled could determine the desire of guests to return to the destination for future holidays.

Monday, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) called on governments around the globe to intervene to protect the travel and tourism economy in light of continued travel disruption. The WTTC, in a release, said while public safety must be paramount, decisions must not be made lightly as they could have serious impact on the world's US$5,751-billion travel and tourism economy.

It was time for governments and organisations such as the United Nations, European Commission, G8 and G20, to re-examine the way policies that affect global travel and tourism are co-ordinated and implemented, said the organisation.

An important step forward, it said, would be the introduction of centralised air traffic control for the whole of Europe, which could reduce the need for blanket bans on flights in the future.

POST A COMMENT

You must first register and then login to be able to post a comment.

HOUSE RULES

1. We welcome reader comments on the top stories of the day. Some comments may be republished on the website or in the newspaper – email addresses will not be published.

2. Please understand that comments are moderated and it is not always possible to publish all that have been submitted. We will, however, try to publish comments that are representative of all received.

3. We ask that comments are civil and free of libellous or hateful material. Also please stick to the topic under discussion.

4. Please do not write in block capitals since this makes your comment hard to read.

5. Please don't use the comments to advertise. However, our advertising department can be more than accommodating if emailed: advertising@jamaicaobserver.com.

6. If readers wish to report offensive comments, suggest a correction or share a story then please email: community@jamaicaobserver.com.

7. Lastly, read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, and before commenting you need to register, conveniently, by clicking the link above.

COMMENTS (16)

anthony james
4/21/2010

the british government sent warships to assist its stranded nationals in France and other parts of Europe, so i fully agree that the British High Cmmission in Jamaica need sto do more to assist stranded Birtish in Jamaica. The JHTA, the Jamaican government and local hotels should not foot all the bills

Nell ness
4/21/2010

This is a business.We have helped but I do not think we should stand the loss, (why should we?). This is is an act of nature, we all know what happens when arlines cancel flights due to snow storms-You have to sleep in the airport tourist or not. We have helped.

nima allen
4/21/2010

Hey jade july, there is no country who depends mostly on tourism,that will allow the stranded tourists to sleep on the floor.
You don't understand that you have to spend to gain from tourism.,and whenever an ordinary hotel is build specially for stranded tourists,it is a form of investment.

Lu Pa
4/21/2010

Why are these people running out of money, where are your family and friends back home,have they not heard of western union? where are your Embassys and so call high commissioners, are they not there to help in times like these, where you can repay when you return.
Why is Jamaica espected to take care of every one these day?, and why wouldn't they want to return, Jamaica did cause the volcano.

Antonette W.
4/21/2010

While it is noble and humane to accommodate the tourists in their time of need, Jamaica should be very wise in handling the situation. If the tourists are becoming restless and angry, they should not be angry at Jamaica or Jamaicans, who are already struggling to survive. In the past, I have been stranded in foreign locales, from Hong Kong to India, to France and I was on my own. They gave away my hotel room in France and when I pleaded my case for them to accommodate me, they demanded for me to leave and threatened to have security forces throw me out into the streets like a vagrant. Had it not been for a woman, a total stranger from Israel who witnessed the incident, and decided to share her room with me that night, I may have had to sleep on the street. ANYTHING JAMAICA DOES FOR THOSE PEOPLE IS A FAVOR, NOT A DUTY. Their own countries have the means and should reach out to help them and not make them a financial burden to Jamaica. In the end they will still say JA was no good.

Jade July
4/21/2010

Why should the hotel struggle? What about the British High Commission. In other countries they have to be sleeping on the floor at the airports. @ Nima Allen donate the money for the project that u suggest maybe it will work

tina chambers
4/21/2010

send them on the banana boat back to England...i remember when we Jamaicans used to go on that same boat .....

Richard Edwards
4/21/2010

None of these travellers had prior notice that their flights would be grounded by a vexed volcano . Many were caught off guard, but there is the British High Command Kingston, part of their job is to make sure that their citizens who are stranded in Jamaica without resources are cared for until they can leave. I certainly don't advaocate throwing them out in the streets, because of their inability to pay, but Jamaicans who find themselves in a similar position in foreign countries, UK included, don't get any special treatment from them, so I am not sure we have any such obligation to the Brits. The British Embassy should help. I concur with KB. Jamaica is a free country, who ever wants to visit may do so,others who choose not to, has the same rights, there is hardly any need to pacify persons, hoping that they will return to jamaica some day, and in any event how exactly has tourism change the economic landscape of Jamaica.
Richard Edwards NYC
betterlifeforjamaicans@yahoo.com

Paul Lewis
4/21/2010

@ KB... I understand your anger, having been there myself. My experiences in my own country at Hotels that are supposed to cater to Guests, have been mostly negative... the last straw being when I requested a drink from a waiter, whose remark sotto voce was " a wha do da man deh eeh sah ". However they should try to offer as much assistance they can without compromising their obligations.

K K
4/21/2010

well said K B

A. Croft
4/21/2010

As reported on the news - the British has sent the navy ships for the British tourists; others can do the same or hire cruise lines to pick them up. They say an "act of god" is not covered under insurance so the airlines and the cruise ships should work out some agreement in regards to payment.
Maybe there will be some insurance coverage available under another clause with this arrangement.

Care Beee
4/21/2010

cannot pay? i wonder if guests from europe ever heared about this thing called a credit card! its not that they cant pay its that they wont pay!

nima allen
4/21/2010

THE JAMAICAN GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO BUILD A SPECIAL HOTEL BESIDE THE NORMAN MANLEY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
THIS HOTEL SHOULD BE RUN BY THE MINISTER OF TOURISM.,AND IT IS TO FACILITATE STRANDED PASSENGERS,AND TOURISTS WHO RUN INTO UNFORTUNATE FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES.
IT SHOULD JUST BE AN ORDINARY CLEAN HOTEL THAT WILL SERVED ORDINARY JAMAICAN MEALS.,AND IT SHOULD BE FUNDED BY THE HOTELS OWNERS IN JAMAICA AND THE JAMAICAN GOVERNMENT.

Jaye Stone
4/21/2010

Jay Brown, what do you think other hotels around the world do in cases like these? Relocate the new guests to other hotels and put up the stranded ones for free? And with our hotels all-inclusive, should they just go on housing and feeding people who cannot pay? This is where cheaper lodgings come in.

Jay Brown
4/21/2010

We have to be very careful here.
We simply cannot "run" people because their money has ran out, while at the same time as a guest I need a room.
What we do here could determine the future of our tourism, as if in my time of need I am kicked out on the streets, I would never return again.
The British High Comission should pay for the UK tourist.

K B
4/21/2010

So because our country depend so much on visitors coming to piss in our waters we must prostrate ourselves to make sure they come back. I am a Jamaican, I live in Europe and they dont give a rat's ass what happens to me with respect to this crisis. Money run out!!? I have to get travel insurance to come here, where is their travel insurance? Oh, it doesnt cover volcanoes!? doesnt matter, my point is we Jamaicans get treated like dirt in other countries and here we are making sure paradise remains paradise for them. I was a second class guest last December when I stayed in a Five Star hotel in Jamaica, yes it bothers me that there is nothing but buracracy and barriers and bias against us..... just let me stop... this story peeves me... I wonder how Jamaicans are been treated in the rest of the world, I can tell you we are not being up up in hotels.
I can always be bothered by these injustices in the tourism sector against Jamaicans because my tax dollars go towards propping it up!

Did you watch American football's Super Bowl on Sunday?
	Yes, but just for the advertisements
	Yes, just for the game itself
	Yes, for both the game and advertisements
	No, I did not watch the Super Bowl.

View Results
Results published weekly in Sunday Finance

Username:
Password:

Mexican army finds 15 tonnes of pure methamphetamine

Hotels struggle to find lodging for stranded Europeans