Dear Editor,

The tourist industry in Jamaica, at least since the 1960s, has been like a goose that lays a golden egg. The income from tourism represents a substantial proportion of the gross domestic product, and a major source of international currency. Like many other Caribbean territories, tourism is big business and the Jamaican government spends a lot of money to support it.

Jamaica has become a major destination for international tourists. Just last week government officials welcomed the world’s largest cruise ship to visit Falmouth where new facilities have been constructed expressly for the purpose of servicing cruise ships. Maybe the government is giving up on hotel-based tourism. Despite this development, it does not seem that Jamaica is more ready for cruise ships than it has been for hotel tourists.

Jamaica lacks a lot of the conditions and this makes it less competitive when compared with other Caribbean destinations. First is the violence. The general level of violence in Jamaica is discouragingly high. Life seems almost brutish and short, and any tourist quickly feels threatened as soon as he wanders outside the barricaded confines of the tourist enclaves. It does not matter that much of this feeling comes from the imagination rather than real experience. In the final analysis, perceptions can often be as powerful as reality and in Jamaica there is an overpowering feeling of personal insecurity. Next is the untidiness of the environment. Kingston and Montego Bay are dirty, garbage-strewn places that definitely do not appeal to residents or visitors. Most other Caribbean countries are relatively neat and clean, at least in the zones where tourists are likely to travel. Finally, Jamaicans tend to be uncivil to foreigners.

Tourism is a service industry and those who work in that industry should be taught that the best tourist industries are those where the approach is premised on enhancing the environment for residents as a way of appealing to visitors. A better Jamaica is one that cares first about Jamaicans. That should be attractive to tourists. Compared to attitudes in many of the other Caribbean islands, Jamaicans behave as though they would rather kill the goose that lays the golden egg than protect it. Maybe the changing focus to cruise ship arrivals is a tacit recognition that land tourism is a dying industry. But cruise ship arrivals will not save the Jamaican tourist industry.

Roger Moore

Montego Bay

St James