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No fallout from CanJet incident, says JTB
Thursday, November 05, 2009
MONTEGO BAY, St James - Almost seven months after 159 passengers and crew members of a CanJet airline destined for Canada were held hostage at the Sangster International Airport in this resort city, the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) is reporting that the incident which gained widespread publicity has not resulted in a fallout in the Canadian market.
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| SCOTT... we cover the country coast to coast with several initiatives (Photo: Philip Lemonte) |
"Fortunately it (attempted hijacking) has not affected us," Sandra Scott, the JTB's regional director for Canada, told reporters during a media briefing at the Tourism Centre in Montego Bay on Monday. "In fact, it had a positive effect because the coverage that we got (in Canada) was what the Government of Jamaica did to that particular situation and that was positive," she explained.
Stephen Fray, 21, made international headlines on April 19, when he barged past security at the Montego Bay airport and boarded the chartered airline, holding the passengers and the crew hostage.
He released the passengers after about 10 minutes, but held the crew hostage for about four hours. No one was hurt in the ordeal.
Fray was subsequently arrested and charged with a number of offences, including illegal possession of firearm and ammunition, shooting with intent and robbery with aggravation.
Last month Fray was sentenced in the Western Regional Gun Court to serve 83 years in prison.
Following the incident, Prime Minister Bruce Golding and other Government ministers, as well as officials from the tourism sector, spent quality time with the passengers and crew and presented them with souvenirs.
Additionally, Sandals Resorts International offered a one-week all expenses paid vacation to passengers and crew members valued at US$600,000 at any of its properties across the island.
Jamaica has over the past year seen a marked increase in stopover arrivals from Canada.
The JTB has projected that there will be a 28 per cent increase in stopover arrivals from that destination this year, when compared with 2008.
Scott on Monday attributed the strong growth to an increase in airlift out of Canada and aggressive promotions in the market by the JTB.
"The airlift out of several new gateways in Canada and the promotions that we have been doing across Canada are the two main reasons for the strong growth," Scott said. "We cover the country coast to coast with several initiatives, which include promoting the new gateways and the new hotels."
There are close to 180,000 available airline seats from Canada to Jamaica, with an expected increase during the winter season, which begins next month, of 20,000, mainly from the western provinces of Canada.
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