MONTEGO BAY, St James — In a continued show of support for Jamaica following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa, American leisure travel and hospitality group, Apple Leisure Group (ALG) Vacations has taken a group of travel agents and team members to the island on a four-day mission with a two fold purpose — community support and rebuilding confidence in the island as a premier tourism destination.

“We brought a group of 125 people, agents and team members to help local communities that are still in need. So we have eight different organisations which we will be touching while we are here. We will be visiting nursing homes, and we’ll be helping schools. We are bringing supplies, we are painting, we are going to an animal shelter,” said Jacki Marks, global head of trade brands at ALG, during a reception dinner hosted by the Jamaica Tourist Board at the RIU Montego Bay Resort on Saturday night.

Marks added that the group worked closely with local partners to ensure the assistance matched urgent needs on the ground.

“So Amstar [Destination Management Company] and the Jamaica Tourist Board helped us select donations, items that were needed, and charities that needed our help. So that was the first thing,” Marks explained.

She said the second objective of the four-day mission was to allow travel advisers who sell Jamaica to see first-hand that the island remains open and ready for visitors.

“So that they can sell with confidence to their clients, and at the same time gain media footage that we can share with hundreds of thousands of travel advisers,” added Marks.

She noted that while the agents paid to be part of the trip, it was largely supported through corporate partnerships.

“I mean, while the agents all paid to come here to be part of this, but ALG Vacations sponsored a lot of this, along with the help from the RIU to be able to fund the rooms and the flights and everything that we’re doing. So it’s a real partnership on how we’re funding this,” said Marks.

She pointed out that one of the schools being assisted was severely impacted by flooding related to the October 28, 2025 Category 5 storm.

“We’ll be helping schools, and one of the schools is… in need of a new water tank [and] it is in need of a new refrigerator. So we are bringing not only school supplies, but we are bringing big items that the school needs to recover,” Marks said as she pointed out that Hurricane Melissa deeply affected the organisation which is dubbed North America’s leading tour operator.

“When the hurricane first hit, there was an emotional heartbreak that we felt as an organisation because Jamaica is so important to us — both the people and what the country represents to our customers. So when we saw the hurricane hit, there was a devastation and a heartbreak we felt, and we felt we needed to do something, and we needed to do something quickly,” said Marks.

She told the reception that ALG immediately touched base with the Jamaica Tourist Board to create plan to support Jamaica’s recovery.

In his address to the reception Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett welcomed the ALG delegation as he described their visit as a powerful signal of confidence in Jamaica.

“So your coming makes that statement that we say we are open… and you have covered the largest delegation ever from Apple Leisure Group. So happy to have you. Thank you so much. You sold Jamaica over the years, you have done marvellously well for us, and we are delighted tonight. On behalf of the people of Jamaica, on behalf of Prime Minister [Dr Andrew Holness], the Cabinet of Jamaica, on behalf of the entire tourism family of Jamaica, Apple Leisure Group thank you for coming and thank you for showing the confidence in destination Jamaica,” Bartlett said.

“And we are not only going to recover, we are going to thrive, and we’re going to have a V shaped recovery of tourism in Jamaica,” declared Bartlett.

He also applauded the group for combining tourism with humanitarian support.

“But before I go, I have to say something else to you, because you didn’t come alone. You didn’t come empty-handed. You didn’t come to just look and absorb the cultures and imbibe the wonderful spirit of Jamaica, but you came as a powerful force of volunteerism to give back to the people of Jamaica.

“And so I want to let the world know that this is what tourism is about. We are about people meeting people, sharing with people, responding to people. We are the powerful force of the world that makes a difference everywhere we go. Thank you,” Bartlett added.

Meanwhile Niurka Garcia Linton, director of sales at RIU Hotels in Jamaica, said the resort chain was pleased to partner with ALG to host travel agents because, “we really felt that it was important for us to do it and that it was for a worthy cause”.

She said the response from the travel trade was overwhelming as the hotel received applications for 1,000 agents who wanted to be part of the project.

According to Garcia Linton, this was evidence that many travel agents are eager to support Jamaica’s recovery.

She said despite high winter occupancy, RIU accommodated the group 125 travel agents and ALG team members.

“So we rearranged occupancy with other hotels and things like that to be able to accommodate them for the duration of their stay,” said Garcia Linton as she underscored that the initiative went beyond tourism and included donations to entities “from primary school to animal shelters”.

Tourism Director Donovan White (right) makes a point to Niurka Garcia Linton, director of sales for RIU Hotels in Jamaica, during a reception dinner hosted at the RIU Montego Bay Resort in St James on Saturday night. (Photo: Horace Hines)

Philip Rose (right), deputy director of tourism sales, USA in discussion with Jacki Marks, global head of trade brands at ALG Vacations, during a reception dinner hosted at the RIU Montego Bay Resort on Saturday night. (Photo: Horace Hines)

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett (left) greets members of the Apple Leisure Group during a reception dinner on Saturday. (Photo: Horace Hines)