DIRECTOR of Tourism Paul Pennicook has warned hoteliers to get their product in tip-top shape or lose out to the new hotels being built on Jamaica’s north coast.

His comments, made at the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association’s (JHTA’s) annual general meeting in Ocho Rios on Saturday, come against the background of a near doubling of Spanish guests to the island last year when compared to 2003.

Last year Jamaica welcomed 10,339 Spanish visitors, an increase of 46.8 per cent and a contributing factor to the island’s 4.8 per cent growth in arrival figures for last year when Jamaica welcomed 1,414,786 stopover arrivals.

The Spanish influx is believed to be due mainly to two new Spanish hotels that the Riu group opened in Negril – the Riu Tropical Bay and the Riu Hotel Negril.

Riu is currently building another hotel at Mammee Bay in St Ann.

“If the existing room stock does not freshen and enhance itself, no one should be surprised if the new hotels capture the lion’s share of the business,” Pennicook warned.

“We need to constantly be freshening our product in order to remain competitive whether we are in accommodations, attractions or the transportation sector, particularly at a time like this with the imminent arrival of some 5,000 – 6,000 new rooms over the next few years.”

Pennicook said refreshing the product does not only apply to physical structures and surroundings but also to service and even the very concept of service.

Hoteliers must realise, he said, that introducing new programmes and providing the highest level of service, in addition to securing training opportunities for staff, would significantly enhance and improve the product being offered.

This in turn would lead to not only guest comfort but also guest satisfaction and repeat business.

His call takes on added significance, given the move by the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) to include product development on its list of key areas for this year.

The WTO is looking at product quality and diversity, marketing promotion as well as air service and air prices.

The arrival figures from Spain last year far outpaced the other countries from which Jamaica took in visitors last year.

After Spain’s enormous percentage growth comes Germany, which grew by 11 per cent to 18,090; Canada up 10.9 per cent to 105,623; and the Caribbean at 9.4 per cent and 49,443 visitors.

Most of the island’s visitors continue to come from the United States, which last year accounted for 996,131 visitors, a 2.9 per cent increase, followed by the United Kingdom with 161,606, a 0.9 per cent increase.