MICHAEL Campbell, president of the Jamaica U-Drive Association (JUDA, has highlighted three recent government initiatives, which he says will give the tourism sector a boost.

In fact, Campbell said the government’s recent incentive offer for new attractions; its General Consumption Tax (GCT) concessions on imported cars; and its construction of a modern highway are all directly linked.

“Visitors will be able to visit attractions and towns more easily and with greater comfort, and our vehicles will suffer less damage on the new highways,” he quipped.

Commending the government further for its emphasis on the creation of new attractions for visitors, Campbell noted that “people do not come to a destination to stay in a hotel. They want to visit attractions and get to know the people”.

“JUDA is therefore happy to see incentives being offered to attractions,” Campbell said, stressing that government must also be commended for “its foresight in building a proper highway system”.

Campbell, who was on Wednesday elected president of JUDA for the seventh straight year, said the association has witnessed a growth in membership for the first time in many years. He attributed this development to a resurgence in the industry.

At the same time, he noted that local car rental companies were not so much competing with each other in the industry as they were with the rest of the world.

“Our competitors overseas are paying taxes of 4-6% to import vehicles, while we pay anything from 70-245%, and when it comes to interest payments, they pay 6-8% on loans while we pay 26-30%”,” Campbell argued. He explained further that such high charges resulted in higher fees for car rental and that vacationers take such costs into account when deciding on where to spend their holidays.

Continuing on the subject of global competition, industry and tourism minister Aloun N’Dombet Assamba challenged the members of JUDA to “stand up and be counted” in the country’s efforts at marketing its tourism product.

“The one or two of you who go to the international travel shows are not enough to convince our potential customers that you supply what they need to explore Jamaica,” Assamba told the U-drive members as she delivered the main address at Wednesday’s luncheon.

The tourism minister said that since the government embarked on the highway-building programme, investments in tourism had improved “phenomenally”.

“The entire stretch from Ocho Rios to Montego is now being called ‘Jamaica’s Riviera'”, the tourism minister declared, adding that the Pinero group had already announced plans to build three hotels in the area in the near future.

Assamba said that the government was focusing on encouraging the development of EP (European Plan or non all-inclusive) hotels as their guests were more inclined to explore the country.

“The more our tourists go into the small towns and villages to eat, shop and mingle with the people, the less will be the rural-urban drift that is causing overcrowding of our cities,” the tourism minister stated.

JUDA, incorporated in 1969, represents 25 of the largest rent-a-car operators in Jamaica. The association’s main objectives are:

* to standardise and regularise the rent-a-car industry;

* to promote the business of its members on an organised and ethical basis and;

* to provide a competitive and reliable product to the tourism industry.