Everyone can benefit from tourism
Dear Editor,
The news that MS Monarch, a cruise ship with 2,700 passengers on board, docked in Kingston couldn’t have come at a better time. Although the ship came to Kingston due to the inability to secure berths in Montego Bay and Falmouth, the idea is doable and we should try to capitalise on this great opportunity to enhance our tourism product and ability to earn more revenue.
The ship, we understand, was only docked for a few hours, but this was a first for Kingston in many years. I understand that tours were made available to popular spots like Devon House, Bob Marley Museum, National Gallery, Emancipation Park, as well as outside the city to Spanish Town and Dunn’s River in St Ann.
All this has a lot of potential for tourism as there are so many cultural and entertainment events, as well as traditional and historic spots. Plus there is the cuisine, with places like Port Royal and Spanish Town within easy reach.
Although crime will always be a concern, increased security and organised tours can help to alleviate these concerns. And I believe that, over time, these concerns will be reduced as people get used to the idea of increased visitor arrivals and the general benefits and opportunities to all from tourism. There was a time when many foreign navy ships would also dock in Kingston and visitors roamed the city freely without fear.
However, Kingston is badly in need of a clean-up. There are too many dilapidated buildings and filthy-looking areas being an eyesore. We should tap into the Tourism Enhancement Fund and target specific areas, initially, to enhance the city. The work can be done in stages.
With more visitors coming into Kingston, the city benefits economically, and so does the country by extension. Eventually more people will learn to appreciate that tourists are not preys, but ordinary human beings who work hard to be able to spend on a vacation, wherever they choose to visit.
Everyone can benefit, but we need to ensure that more profits from the industry are retained in Jamaica.
P Chin
chin_p@yahoo.com
