By Rayon Dyer, Gleaner WriterBLACK RIVER, St. Elizabeth:
OPERATORS OF tourism attractions in St. Elizabeth have expressed mixed views about the level of business they are experiencing in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
While most businesses are now reporting a significant increase since the initial fallout in visitor arrivals, some have fared badly.
Judy Schoenbein, general manager of Appleton Rum Tour, during an interview with The Gleaner on Tuesday, said this summer is the best the attraction had experienced in the last three years. She said that most of the visitors who come to Appleton Rum Tour are from Europe.
Explaining what visitors are exposed to when they attend the tour, Ms. Schoenbein said: "We show them how rum is made, how sugar cane is grown, how it is processed and they also get a chance to taste the rum that we distil here."
VERY POOR
According to Stacey Matterson, operations manager of Lover's Leap attractions, compared to last summer things are "very poor" this time around. "We had far more visitors last year," she told The Gleaner. She said that at times, there were only a few buses in the parking lot. "Things are really slow at the moment," she explained.
"As an attraction, we are located at an ideal location and despite the slow period Lover's Leap continues to be famous for its excellent view," Ms. Matterson said. "I think the problem is that we are not having enough tours like we had in the past."
Simon Brownie, manager of YS Falls, told The Gleaner that business at the property this summer was far better than last year. He said that the property had a wide variety of attractions including a cattle farm which is very popular with the visitors.
