OCHO RIOS, St Ann — Chairman of the Tourism Recovery task force John Byles says, while Jamaica is deeply grateful for the overwhelming international support following the devastation from Hurricane Melissa, getting the tourism sector fully operational is a local priority.

“We are heartened by the amount of aid coming in, but we…want to make sure that the tourism machinery is back up so that everybody can do what they do and welcome our guests as we are already doing in some parts,” said Byles during a recent tour of Ocho Rios by major players in the tourism sector led by portfolio minister Edmund Bartlett.

Pointing to the early coordinated response by players in the tourism industry, Byles argued that even in crisis the sector demonstrated exceptional unity and efficiency.

“There is one thing I can tell you, when there is crisis we have that united front; everybody comes together, they work together. We went through initially the evacuation of the guests that were on island…that was done seamlessly,” added Byles, who is also executive deputy chairman of Chukka Caribbean Adventures.

He underscored that recovery efforts are already in motion, with Ocho Rios, St Ann, reopening first because it was basically untouched by Hurricane Melissa.

“And we see the number one priority for us is to get the tourism back up because of the amount of lives it affects,” said Byles.

In the meantime, head of the Jamaica Tourism Cares task force Jessica Shannon, who was also a part of the tour late last week, said despite the scale of the devastation what stands out in this moment is a spirit of partnership across Jamaica’s sectors and institutions.

“One of the things that we continue to say throughout this is hand in hand we rebuild, and hand in hand we help each other across the industry, because we are working…. Anyone who is traditionally a competitor is not at this time,” said Shannon, who is also chief experience officer for Sandals Resorts International.

“We are working together seamlessly — private sector, public sector, international, domestic, everyone is working together across ministries, across agencies to rebuild. So our mantra right now is hand in hand we rebuild. And we are going to do it as quickly as possible,” added Shannon.

She pointed out that Jamaica is not walking the road to recovery alone and declared that global partners — from hotel brands and airlines to cruise operators — have been reaching out non-stop with offers of relief assistance.

“And I will tell you that our partners from around the world are flocking and flooding us with requests to be able to help Jamaica right now in this time.

“The goodwill that Jamaica has generated is sort of unprecedented in terms of a natural disaster and people wanting to jump in and support. Our cruise partners, our airline partners, our hoteliers around the world are offering pallets of relief supplies. They are asking what it is that we need for housing recovery… really across the board. We had someone calling and they are looking to donate clothing, generators, tarpaulins, everything,” added Shannon.

Head of Jamaica Tourism Cares task force Jessica Shannon makes a point to Jeremy Jones, regional managing director — Jamaica, Sandals and Beaches resorts, at Sandals Dunn’s River, last Thursday.  Photo: Horace Hines

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