The St James Municipal Corporation will be collaborating with the island’s tourism agencies to rehabilitate and beautify areas in the parish, to ensure that more communities benefit from the current increase in tourist arrivals.

Deputy Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Richard Vernon, made the disclosure at a press briefing at the Sangster International Airport on October 4.

“Just recently, we met with the Civic and Community Affairs Committee at the St James Municipal Corporation, and we went on a tour of St James along with [representatives from] the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) and the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), looking at different sites that we can restore and enhance to make the experience even better for our visitors,” he said.

“Of course, that speaks well to our local economy, because persons in different communities stand to benefit when the arrival of visitors to Jamaica increases. So, it means a lot to us, and we are looking forward to doing even greater things in the future,” Vernon added.

At the press briefing, it was announced that in February 2023, Frontier Airlines will begin non-stop seasonal flights from the United States cities of Denver, Colorado; St Louis, Missouri; and Chicago, Illinois to Sangster International.

Vernon commended Frontier, as well as the island’s tourism agencies and other stakeholders, who continue to market the destination.

“Frontier is doing an awesome job in terms of expanding the destinations where the passengers are coming from. That is their type of business and, of course, the Jamaica Tourist Board is doing an awesome job in terms of marketing Jamaica as a destination, as well as Jamaica Vacations [and] the team here at MBJ (airport) are doing a very good job,” he said.

Vernon added that at the local level, work has to be done with TPDCo to enhance that product, “so when they fly into Jamaica they have somewhere to go and I love the fact that we continue to experience a situation where tourists now want to explore Jamaica.”