From left, Pennicook and Morrison
Al Edwards, Business Co-ordinator
THE JAMAICA Tourist Board (JTB) is making attempts to streamline its organisation and broaden the perception of Jamaica as an all-inclusive/couples destination to incorporate all that Jamaica has to offer.
Speaking at the JTB's "Fall Forum on Tourism" held at the Hilton Kingston Hotel on Friday, chairman of the JTB, Dennis Morrison, said that the re-organisation of the JTB is well advanced and that the organisation would be looking to greater efficiencies. The decision has already been taken to have only three overseas offices: The United Kingdom (headed by David Barber), Canada (headed by Pat Samuels) and the United States.
Speaking with Sunday Business, Director of Tourism, Paul Pennicook said: "So far we have had a good year. As of the end of September stop-overs are up 6.3 per cent and cruise visitors are up 35 per cent. All indications are that we will continue to have a good year. If we are successful in reaching the different audiences and broadening the perception of Jamaica in the major markets we will not only continue to have success but our visitor numbers will grow."
ALL SET
The JTB seems all set to meet its visitor target of 2.4 million visitors (1.3 million stop-overs, 1.1 million cruise) for this year. Mr. Pennicook said that a target of three million visitors in 2004/2005 was not unachievable and in the not too distant future Jamaica, could attract five million visitors a year. In order to get to that five million figure, it is essential that Jamaica develop its infrastructure, increase its room capacity and carrying capacity.
"Five million visitors a year is a target but not one we will achieve in two years perhaps in five years but we must first get over the three million mark," said Mr. Pennicook.
He said that it was important that the entire country buys into the fact that tourism is the industry that can really grow the economy by creating jobs and earning foreign exchange quickly. He stressed that it was important for tourism practitioners to provide the very best service so that repeat business could be generated, so that arrival numbers can be increased.
Is the all-inclusive market saturated? The all-inclusive concept has long been the mainstay of Jamaican tourism but it appears to be under threat of late. Will its dominance continue to prevail in both the short and long term and does the JTB have to look to more viable alternatives?
"At this point in time Jamaica has a room occupancy rate of 58 per cent. This means that the need to increase arrivals to bolster occupancy levels is imperative. Within that number, the non-all-inclusives have the lower number of about 40 per cent whereas the all-inclusives are at about 71 per cent.
MORE ROOMS
"We can build a lot more rooms in all the categories as long as we go for the right market to fill those rooms. We cannot expect to get all our business from the same markets we have been getting them from for the last 20 years. We have to get the word out there that we are diversifying our product. We have to also diversify our market sources which means getting more people visiting Jamaica from the emerging markets of Europe and Latin America. Currently, we are getting 73 per cent of our arrivals from the United States. Now I want our market from that region to grow but I also want to see numbers from Latin America and Europe grow faster so that we can diversify or change that mix of how much we get from a single market. It is not sustainable to have a single market providing three-quarters of your business," declared Mr. Pennicook.
For the fiscal year 2003, the JTB's advertising budget was approximately US$12 million. Mr. Pennicook made it clear that he would welcome more resources. Both Riu and the Pinero Group have embarked on a hotel-building programme in Jamaica signalling their confidence in the country. A feature of their operations is the ability to build rooms cheaper than their more entrenched competitors.
Mr. Pennicook notes that both companies have the capacity to bring additional airlift into the destinations thereby providing new markets to fill their rooms.
THE EFFECT OF CRIME
Leading players in the Jamaican tourism industry have long bemoaned the debilitating effect of crime on the country's largest earner of foreign exchange. Only last month, a World Bank report declared that if Jamaica were able to reduce its crime rate by one per cent it would net its tourism industry a further $2.5 billion.
"I am certainly not satisfied with the state of affairs right now. I know a lot of work is being done in both the private and public sector to address this crime problem. We recently heard the president of the JHTA say that the Security Forces need outside help. I know a lot of work is being done but the fact of the matter is that we need to do more in order to decrease that whole scourge of crime and violence in Jamaica because it really does our tourism product a disservice if there is a perception that the destination is unsafe.
MEDIA SENSITIVITY
He believes that the media could be a little more sensitive in the way it reports on the crime situation but he in no way implies that the news should be suppressed. He holds the view that if crime was properly addressed then Jamaica would get more investors and so more tourists visiting the island. The JTB has contracted the services of two agencies Ruder Finn, based in the US and Financial Dynamics International (FDI), in the UK to handle its international communications.
Ruder Finn has been appointed to undertake public relations functions on behalf of the JTB in the U.S., Canada and Latin America while Financial Dynamics will be responsible for public relations programmes in the UK and Europe.
