By Denise Clarke, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
HOTELIERS IN Montego Bay and Negril are depending on next year's Spring Break activities to boost their occupancy levels, which most report are down significantly from last year's figures.
The low bookings now being experienced are expected to increase when the Spring Break activities begin in mid-February.
"What I am hearing from the hotels is that we are down an average of about 20-25 per cent as against last year," said Godfrey Dyer, president of the Montego Bay Chapter of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA). "We think this trend is going to continue straight into the middle of February when by then with the Spring Break we will reduce that margin to about 10 per cent."
President of the Negril Chapter of the JHTA Carolyn Wright was also optimistic about Spring Break but admitted that the fallout in the United States would have some effect on the activities. She was hopeful, however, that the hotels will see an increase in bookings during the Christmas holidays and in early January.
"Normally the operators would have more advanced bookings at this time, but I guess a lot of people are holding off until January," Ms. Wright said. "Based on what's happened over the years and the few people I talked to, it should pick up over the weekend."
Mr. Dyer was also upbeat that hotel bookings in Montego Bay would increase during Christmas. "The late bookings are coming in, so hopefully over Christmas we will see some change," he said.
The Spring Break activities usually last for six weeks from mid-February, when thousands of college students flock to the island.
Industry players have predicted that the winter tourist season, which began on Saturday, will be a bleak one due to the recession in the United States and the September terrorist attacks.
