WESTERN BUREAU:
TOURISM OFFICIALS in Montego Bay are optimistic that the addition of three new flights to the number coming into the Sangster International Airport will significantly boost the city's ailing tourism industry.
The airport, which began seeing increased activity earlier this week when it welcomed the return of Cayman Airways after a 20-year absence on Monday, will be getting more business with Delta resuming as of yesterday and today Martinair joins the fray.
The island's tourism product suffered tremendously following the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11. Tourism officials are bracing themselves for a possible down turn in the industry amid allegations that a Jamaican-born youth John Lee Malvo was involved in the sniper attacks that rocked the US for three weeks in October.
However, with the prospect of more seats available to persons who want to visit the island, September 11 and the sniper attacks were far from the mind of officials in the second city.
"The flights will be a tremendous boost to our tourism product," Norma Taylor, Public Relations Officer of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) told The Gleaner yesterday. "Additional seats means more tourists will be travelling to the island."
Clive Taffe, JTB's general manager in charge of regional offices agreed that the new flights are expected to have a great impact on tourism industry. Commenting on the resumption of the Cayman Airways flight he noted, "We welcome the return of Cayman Airways to Montego Bay as it will greatly impact on the tourism industry and on commerce."
The Cayman Airways flight will leave Grand Cayman on Mondays at 6:30 a.m. and fly directly to Montego Bay arriving at 7:15 a.m., while on Wednesdays and Fridays the flight will leave at 7:00 a.m. for Kingston and arrive in Montego Bay at 9:00 a.m.
Meanwhile, Martinair is expected to fly to the island every Saturday from Amsterdam arriving at 9:00 p.m. It is expected to bring some 45,000 tourists to the island over the next three years. 142 passengers will be arriving on the flight on Saturday.
Delta will be making daily flights arriving on the island at 1:00 p.m. from Atlanta. One hundred and fifty-four passengers will be on the inaugural flight today.
Ms. Taylor has expressed optimism that the Atlanta route is going to be very successful. "The JTB has an office in Atlanta and our representatives in the area have been working very hard to publicise the flight," she said. "Plus we have a lot of Jamaican nationals living in Atlanta and the flight will greatly improve accessibility to the island for them."
