WITH American Airlines set to increase scheduled flights to Ian Fleming International Airport this December, views are still mixed among people in St Mary that the airport is designated by the tourism and airline industries as Ocho Rios rather than Boscobel.

Previously known as Boscobel Aerodrome, situated in Oracabessa, St Mary, Ian Fleming International Airport is 15 kilometres from the scenic north coast resort town of Ocho Rios. As such, the airline and the Jamaica Government are using OCJ [Ocho Rios Jamaica] as the airport code for Ian Fleming International, given that Ocho Rios is known globally as one of Jamaica’s major tourist destinations.

However, some residents argue that St Mary has significant untapped tourism potential and can stand on its own, while others say they have no issue with it, noting that the association with Ocho Rios helps to attract tourists.

“We are in Boscobel, Gully Road, and it is Ochi they call us, and we are not in Ochi. When we give our address, we don’t say Ochi, it’s Boscobel, St Mary, we use. It needs to change,” a licensed hairdresser and shop owner, who gave her name as Barbara, told the
Jamaica Observer.

“Ochi gets all the ratings. What about we? That’s why we’re stagnant. Look at the community, you see anything happening down here? Me a battle to make a dollar,” she said, arguing that the strategy is not effective.

“Make them familiar with Boscobel so [that] they can come to Boscobel so we can make something. We don’t see any tourists walking here to get something, but look at Ochi, how tourists walk; make them walk here too. Make them know Boscobel and have them walk and recognise Boscobel, St Mary, so we can make a dollar off them. If it is even two braids,” Barbara said.

Another resident said she has lived in the area for more than 40 years and never understood the decision.

“It is St Mary I know it as, because I was born here, so why did they change the name? They want to even say the airport in Ocho Rios, too. St Mary people nuh have nothing?” she questioned.

“Just call it by the right name. Is St Mary it name — Boscobel, St Mary,” she insisted in an interview with the Sunday Observer in St Mary.

Similar sentiments were shared by a group of residents at a nearby shop. However, one resident said that she has no issue with the use of the Ocho Rios designation.

“I’m not going to differentiate the place, because place a place and you can do anything anywhere. You can call a place a name just to make it develop, so to me, I don’t see anything wrong with it,” said Ann Marie Morrison, a resident and business owner in Boscobel.

“It will help us to grow in our business because our business is slow, and if tourists are coming in, they might see something that attracts them and maybe buy it or something,” she told the Sunday Observer.

She said the recent announcement that American Airlines will increase flights to Ian Fleming Airport is a welcome move that can further help to develop the area.

“We really like what’s happening… I like to go out there and watch the planes; I go close to the [fence of the airport] and I watch them. I never see them when they are landing, but I see it when it’s preparing to go back out, so I stand there and I watch it until it builds up and takes off,” said Morrison.

She said collaboration with residents and the relevant authorities can help to further develop the community.

“At one point I was thinking that they would have shops over there [the airport] to rent so we could get a shop to rent and then we would buy our things and sell. If they’re not putting anything there, then we can go ahead and do something, but we just waiting to see it develop first,” she said.

In Stewart Town, St Mary, Toyan Johnson, a soup vendor, stated that he had no issue with his community being referred to as Ocho Rios.

“I always wonder why they call it Ochi, but I think it is because when they call it Ochi the tourists take to it more. Normally, they would just call it Stewart Town, St Mary, but with the Ochi thing, I don’t see a problem with it because it makes tourists come, and I’m sure the people in Ochi don’t have a problem with it. If you notice, they even call James Bond Beach [located in Oracabessa, St Mary] Ochi,” said Johnson.

“Overall, tourists catch on to Ochi, so if you call the whole stretch Ochi, I don’t have any problem. It will bring more tourists and foreigners. If you call it Stewart Town, St Mary, I think them [the tourists] would wonder what name so, because it’s not even on the map,” he reasoned.

He said that, like Ocho Rios, Stewart Town has the potential to be a tourist destination. He shared that in his six years running his soup business in the community, a few tourists have stopped by, sometimes without a tour guide, to support the local businesses.

“We got quite a few tourist attractions around the place, so tourists can come and enjoy themselves,” said Johnson.

Last month American Airlines announced that it will increase to two the daily flights between Ian Fleming International Airport and Miami. Additionally, it will increase to four the daily flights between the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston and Miami.

Toyan Johnson, a soup vendor in Stewart Town, St Mary, said he has sold soup to a few tourists in his six years running the business. He said he has no problem with his area being referred to as Ocho Rios because it attracts tourists. (Photos: Karl Mclarty)

Restaurants and other businesses line the street in Stewart Town, St Mary.

A cluster of shops and bars along Gully Road, just beside Ian Fleming International Airport in Boscobel, St Mary.