MONTEGO BAY — Red Stripe has pumped more than $6 million to promote and stage over 2,000 activities over the next six weeks for this year’s Spring Break, which is expected to bring about 22,000 college students to the island’s resort areas of Montego Bay and Negril.

Last year more than 30,000 students turned up for the annual fun fest and tourism officials, who have attributed the sharp drop in numbers to the lingering effects of September 11, are grateful for those who turned up this year.

“After the problems we have been having, I don’t think that’s a bad number of people to expect. They start coming in today, about 400 of them, and they’ll be coming in all over this period for the next few weeks,” said Jamaica Tourist Board consultant, Harry Knowles yesterday.

He was speaking with the media shortly before the first two Air Jamaica flights arrived with 48 students from New York and 42 from Boston.

The terrorist attack on the US has wreaked havoc with the island’s tourist industry and a lot of hope is pinned on events, such as Spring Break and the recently staged Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival, to boost occupancy levels.

“The smaller hotels, particularly in Negril, do very well for Spring Break, so we really welcome them and we’re glad that Red Stripe is here to welcome them as well,” Knowles said. “And I think next year the figures will go back up because people are still a little bit worried about flying. But I think they’re getting over that slowly. Things can still pick up, we have time.”

Some charge that the Spring Break market, which is usually made up of several cash-strapped students crammed into single rooms to save money, is less lucrative. But, according to Knowles, they spend just as much as other visitors who shell out about US$90 a day.

Red Strip has long recognised the lucrative nature of the annual six-week event, and they have been involved in staging activities for the students for the past five years. According to Red Stripe’s Grace Silvera, the company spent $5 million on last year’s crowd, and decided to increase this year’s investment because of the challenges of luring people to fly after September 11.

“We think that when things are difficult that is when you really need to come out, that’s when you really need to do things to reinforce your brand commitment, your brand loyalty, to grow your brand,” she explained. “And because of the September 11 incident we think we should continue to demonstrate our commitment to the programme. It is a significant contribution to tourism and to the economy and we think that we will get the payback in two or three years’ time when they continue to choose Jamaica as a destination for Spring Break.”

The first batch of revellers were given a warm welcome to the island by Air Jamaica, JTB, and Red Stripe representatives as well as Montego Bay mayor Hugh Solomon.

And mindful of past risqué behaviour by former groups, which included publicly licking whipped cream off each others bodies, the mayor urged the young adults to stay within the law and try to learn about the island’s culture while they have good, clean fun.

“We expect them to enjoy themselves but at the same time behave to the best of their ability,” he told the Observer. “We all know that laws are in place and if they don’t (behave) they’ll get in problems and we sincerely hope that nothing like that will take place.”

Over the past two years, the JTB has come up with a code of conduct for the Spring Breakers and according to Knowles, this year will be no different. He said event emcees, who have a strong influence over crowd behaviour, have been told to keep the activities at a certain level.

“The emcees at the shows have been talked to and I think we won’t have a problem this year,” he said.

Yesterday, the fun started for the first batch of students as soon as they got off the aircraft. They were provided with Red Stripe tee shirts, greeted by the pool of officials and then entertained and refreshed inside the terminal by Red Stripe.

With a cup of icy cold beer in his hand and a huge grin on his face, 21 year-old university senior Carl Meisler of Providence looked ready for the party to begin.

“We came last year, we had a blast and we’re back,” he said.

He made the trip with eight other young men who will join him in Negril. Two more of their friends, a male and a female, are staying in a Montego Bay resort. And while Meisler remembers clearly that he had fun last year, he could not remember exactly what he and his friends did.

“What did we do last time? Boy, what did we do? I can’t really remember but we had a whole bunch of fun, I can tell you that, that’s why we came back. Jamaica is a beautiful, beautiful country. Warm weather, great people, good drinks, lots of fun.”