Letter of the Day - Honeymoons as bait

THE EDITOR, Sir:

IT IS apparent that the travel and tourism industry is in desperate need of some innovative marketing in an effort to regain some 'lost ground' in the wake of the recent events in the US. At least two of Jamaica's regional competitors, Mexico and the Bahamas, got in early and launched campaigns aimed directly at the US market. It may be an act in futility to attempt to get the American market to travel at this time, but a little goodwill now could serve Jamaica well in the long run.

The Jamaican empathy ads are being aired on CNN, but how much mileage do we really expect to get from them? My suggestion to increase our coverage, is to offer honeymoon packages to the US military personnel who are hurriedly getting married before they rush off to fight the 'war on terrorism'. Some major networks have been airing some of these nuptials live. This would be the ideal opportunity for Jamaica to offer these honeymoon packages at prime time in the morning.

Though these persons would be unable to take up the offers at this time, depending on the length of time the war is waged, the publicity gained and the word of mouth mileage could be invaluable to the Jamaican travel and tourism industry.

I am etc.,

NICOLA MYKOO

nicolagriffith@hotmail.com

Shenstone Dr.,

Beverly Hills

Kingston 6

Via Go-Jamaica

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