Forstmayr now heads JHTA

MONTEGO Bay hotelier Josef Forstmayr was yesterday elected president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), having previously served as vice-president.

An Austrian, Mr. Forstmayr come to Jamaica in 1979 as assistant manager at Coconut Grove in Negril.

He was for several years area chairman of the JHTA chapter three and last year he completed a two-year term as President of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He succeeds James Samuels, out-going JHTA president who told stakeholders in the Jamaican tourism industry yesterday, at the Association's annual general meeting at Hilton Kingston Hotel, that they will have to become smarter if their product is to compete with overseas tourism products.

Competitive

"The competitive nature of this industry called tourism is likely to continuously increase as a result of the explosion in the emergence of new destinations," he said.

He added that local industry officials will need a new way to market Jamaica as a viable tourist destination.

"And as such we will need an organisation that is both nimble and capable of responding to the new paradigms," Mr. Samuels told JHTA members.

He said during his four years in office, he has learnt that hoteliers have to create new products to remain competitive.

He cited this weekend's food festival, Flavours of the Caribbean, as one such new product that should be embraced.

Mr. Samuels added that tourism industry stakeholders cannot take a hands-off position, but he urged them to get involved in different communities as tourism represents the only industry that provides economic activity.

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