SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — Leading hotels, resorts and attractions which cater to Jamaica’s south coast visitors are shutting down and laying off staff in response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

Chairman of Jakes Hotel, Villas and Spa in Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth, Jason Henzell confirmed yesterday that 130 people employed at the hotel, as well as neighbouring Jack Sprat Restaurant and the Lovers Leap attraction at Yardley Chase close to Southfield, had been laid off.

“We were hoping we could hold back on layoffs but the situation is moving so fast, with border closures and so forth, we had no choice,” he told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

“The most unfortunate thing is that everything is so uncertain; we have to lay off our people indefinitely. It is really painful because at Jakes we consider our employees to be part of the Jakes family,” said Henzell.

“But, we know we are going to come back better and stronger,” he continued.

Henzell, who is councillor for the South Coast Chapter of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), said a number of other hotels and guest houses in Treasure Beach had also closed their doors, including Treasure Beach Hotel and the 14-room Sunset Resort.

Jamaica’s multibillion-dollar tourism industry, mainly focused on the north and west coasts of the island, is shutting down because of the fast-accelerating COVID-19. Word yesterday afternoon was that there were more than 330,000 cases across the globe, with in excess of 14,000 deaths.

In Jamaica 21 cases had been confirmed up to yesterday, with one death.

The Jamaican Government has responded with a raft of measures, including shutting schools, closing airports to incoming passenger traffic, recommending work from home, and mandating groups should comprise no more than 20 people.

When contacted yesterday, Kory South of Sunset Resort said he had no choice but to lay off his 13 staff members.

“We have to batten down and ride it (the crisis) out,” South said.

Simon Browne of the popular YS Falls in northern St Elizabeth said the requirement by Government for public gatherings to be no more than 20 people was pivotal in the decision to close down last Wednesday.

“We just have to wait to see what the Government does from here on,” he said.

Browne said that, as an alternative to layoffs, the YS management had offered employees their two weeks’ vacation leave.

Responding to suggestions that YS Falls has a strong local clientèle and may be less vulnerable to the fallout from the overseas visitor industry, Browne emphasised that the ban on groups of more than 20 remained an intractable obstacle.

“We would love to be able to open for Easter but we just have to wait on further instructions from the authorities,” he said.

Also, he suggested, even after the ban is lifted, widespread economic difficulties now being caused by the COVID-19 crisis will be a huge factor.

“If the money is not there, entertainment may not be the premium thing people want to spend their money on,” he said.

Expanding on the need by hoteliers and tourist-related business operators to lay off staff, Henzell noted that while there were forward bookings, there could be no reliance on that because of the “extremely uncertain situation” globally.

He noted predictions, for example, that the US economy was likely to suffer a “major setback” in the short term.

“Some people (booked visitors) will still want to come, but some are going to cancel,” he said.

“So you want to take care of your staff, because your people are your most valuable assets — not the buildings, not the land… but you have to be very careful,” said Henzell.   

Notwithstanding the gloom, Henzell argued that Jamaica’s strong farming sector meant it was in a much better position to ride out the COVID-19 storm than many other tourism-dependent countries.

“We don’t have to import everything,” he said. 

“This is a wake-up call that, as a country, we have to be resilient and prepared,” he said.

Henzell also struck an optimistic note for south coast, community-style tourism.

“I think after this people are going to [be more drawn] to low-density attractions [like Treasure Beach],” he said. “People will want to go to more environmentally protected areas, and a lot of people are going to change their travel habits.”