THE Tourism Product Development Company Ltd (TPDCo) says its its team of product quality officers has been on the ground in Negril visiting and assessing tourism entities, with a view to certifying them as COVID-19-compliant so that they may be incorporated into the pool of offerings to visitors in that resort town.

Up to July 9, 44 of the 58 establishments in Negril scheduled for assessment had already been assessed. Of the 44, 43 are licensed by the JTB and 42 are compliant with the COVID-19 Ministry of Health and Wellness safety protocols. Two entities are not compliant and will be re-visited when they have completed implementation of the stated requirements. The entities assessed include hotels, attractions, car rentals, condominiums, tour operators, villas, apartments and water sports facilities.

According to executive director of the TPDCo Dr Andrew Spencer, “Our focus will always be on regulated entities first because we have had multiple amnesties for businesses to become compliant with the JTB licences. Nonetheless, we are not leaving these unlicensed entities behind and have begun doing COVID-19-compliance checks for them. If these unlicensed entities are COVID-19-compliant the JTB, on TPDCo’s recommendation, will place them on their website so bookings can be made. These entities, however, will be given 30 days in which to become JTB-licensed, or else be removed from the JTB listing.

In addition, tourism entities will be supported through the World Bank-funded Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI) programme and other such initiatives to get support for COVID-19 compliance, as well as to be licensed by the JTB.

The TPDCo has urged other entities to get within the programme requirements in order to benefit from the opportunities that both certifications will provide.