JTB says bookings for December, Winter Tourist Season ‘quite strong’
PRELIMINARY figures show a 24 per cent increase in stopover arrivals for November, while bookings for December and the Winter Tourist Season “are quite strong”, the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) said in a statement yesterday.
The JTB said this increase is a follow-on from October, which saw more people opting to spend their vacation in Jamaica, pushing arrival figures up by 3.1 per cent compared to the same period last year.
These increases, the JTB said, follow a “difficult summer for the island’s tourist industry”.
“Even more impressive was the performance of the cruise aspect of the industry, with October receiving 10.9 per cent more cruise visitors to the island than was the case during the same month last year,” JTB said.
Meanwhile, Director of Tourism Paul Pennicook said “this is indeed good news”, pointing out that there was in fact a decline of 2.4 per cent in stopover arrivals for the May to September summer period.
He added that the improvement was even more heartening, considering that there has been significant increase in room stock this year. Making specific reference to the addition of the Sandals Whitehouse, Riu Ocho Rios and the re-opening of Sunset Jamaica Grande also in Ocho Rios, the director said that these hotels have resulted in almost 2,000 more rooms being added to available inventory.
Pennicook said the improved performance of the sector represents a culmination of the promotional work in overseas markets.
“The JTB has stepped up its activities to ensure that we remain forefront in the mind of our clients”, he remarked.
These activities, he said, included fly-ins of more than 600 travel agents for familiarisation tours; trade shows in North America and Europe, multi-station radio remote activities in resort areas and strategic advertising and public relations events in various markets.
Additionally, the tourism director said that the fallout in Cancun, Mexico from Hurricane Wilma have had a positive impact on the island’s arrivals.
He also stated that Jamaica continues to be the premier tourism product in the region, noting the many awards the island won at the recent World Travel Awards in London. The awards, he said, “affirm the importance that both the travel trade and consumers place on the value destination Jamaica offers, through partnership between the private and public sectors”.
