By Garwin Davis, Assistant News EditorA REDUCTION in complaints of visitor harassment by cruise passengers visiting Ocho Rios has resulted in the resort town being given a major stamp of approval by cruise line officials.
The ringing endorsement means the town is now receiving an average of seven cruise vessels per week a record and on course, local officials say, to claim the unofficial title as being "the cruise shipping capital of Jamaica".
John Heald, a cruise director for Carnival Cruise Line, told The Gleaner that compared to several years ago, when complaints about Ocho Rios were at a record high, there has been a remarkable reduction and a complete transformation on the streets.
"What we have been seeing in Ocho Rios lately has been quite encouraging," he said. "It is quite obvious that some major work has been done to curtail harassment of visitors, for the most part, (visitors) can now walk freely."
Mr. Heald, a regular visitor since 1987, said he could remember when visitor harassment had gotten so bad that Carnival passengers were recommending that the company find an alternative port of call to Jamaica.
"People were just tired of all the hassle and intimidation on the streets," he pointed out. "A lot of our passengers are from small towns in the United States and they are simply not used to being pestered and followed around."
Businessman Ravi Daswani agreed. "I think people for the most part realise that there is no sense killing the goose that has been laying the golden egg," he said.
Others though, while welcoming the presence of the vessels, say more has to be done to encourage passengers to disembark. Leading the charge are the craft vendors who note that they have not been seeing much of the business. Cruise shipping runs a close second to the hotels in terms of visitor arrivals and is the mainstay of the Ocho Rios economy. Ministry of Tourism officials say they are expecting the island to next year surpass, for the first time, one million passengers, a figure, they note, "we are well on course for."
