DYER AND PENNICOOK
Denise Clarke,
Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
ALMOST AT the same time that the one millionth cruise ship visitor to the island, Orest Olchowyj (and his wife Maria), was being showered with gifts in Ocho Rios last Wednesday, the president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), Godfrey Dyer, was lamenting the potential impact of crime on tourism at a Lions Club of Kingston lunch at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel.
Mr. Dyer was particularly worried about the effect that an upsurge in crime would have on the winter tourist season scheduled to begin in just over a week's time, and for which the projections are very optimistic.
The tourist industry accounts for 50 per cent of the country's gross foreign exchange earnings some US$1.3 billion annually. A total of 75,000 persons is directly employed in the tourism sector and another 90,000 jobs are generated through indirect employment. It is this realisation that has prompted the Government to focus its attention on this industry as the catalyst that will propel the country's economy forward.
But as promising as the industry is, recording a seven per cent growth over last year, the high level of crime has always presented a major hurdle in the efforts to market the tourism product effectively.
Crime is a problem, but incidents involving tourists are extremely low 0.01 per cent by some estimates. Incidents such as the robbery of six tourists at the Falcon Cottages guesthouse in Negril in September are the exception rather than the norm. The industry showed no serious fallout from the violent flare-ups in Canterbury and Flankers in the tourism capital of Montego Bay in the month of October, even though a number of tourists had to be transported by boat to the Sangster International Airport for their return trip home, during the Flankers demonstrations, and the news had made the international media. In that month, 86,639 stop-over visitors came to the island, along with 95,910 cruise passengers.
SUCCESS
It has been a good year for tourism so far. Up to the end of August, approximately 1,699,062 tourists had visited the island. In July alone, there were 144,039 stop-over visitors, the highest number of stopover tourist arrivals in history. For the first half of this year, cruise passenger arrivals showed an even stronger growth of 39 per cent, and is now reported to be more than 60 per cent over last year. Gross visitor expenditure for the first half of this year is estimated at US$643 million, an increase of 10 per cent over last year.
The projections for the winter season are astounding. In fact, if all holds up, and Mr. Dyer's worst nightmare stays away, then the industry stands to realise much more than the US$1.2 billion earned last year. However, compared to some of our Caribbean neighbours who are relatively newcomers to the industry, Jamaica is lagging behind big time.
Cuba reported an 18.7 per cent growth for the January to March period, and the country has set a target to attract more than 1.9 million visitors this year, 600,000 more than Jamaica's target. This figure if achieved will represent a 12.6 per cent increase over the number of persons who visited Cuba in 2002. Other destinations such as the Bahamas, and the Dominican Republic and Cancun in Mexico recorded significantly higher tourist arrivals last year, and are still climbing way above Jamaica.
All of these countries have one thing in common they are tropical paradises selling sun, sea, and sand. But the industry has seen a shift from that kind of marketing. Tourists want more than just a tan. Come to Jamaica and feel alright doesn't cut it anymore. They want to see, touch, taste a total experience of the destination.
WHAT TOURISTS WANT
VERSUS WHAT THEY GET
President of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry Winston Dear made the point at the official launch of the Calico Pirate Cruises in Montego Bay last month that visitors to Jamaica are now demanding more than just the three 'S's. "People are asking for experiences when they come here, something that they will remember us by," he stated.
A report in the The Gleaner of November 19, said passengers on the Radisson Seven Seas Navigator cruise vessel which docked in Port Antonio on November 11, were disappointed at what they saw, and felt that those responsible for marketing the tourism sector had presented a false image of Port Antonio's culture and attractions.
Compared to what they thought they had bought "the natural lush vegetation, carnival-like atmosphere, flamboyant hats and reggae T-shirts in Caribbean style", according to one visitor the destination fell way short of their expectations. There were 288 passengers onboard that vessel and another ten luxury cruise ships with more than 5,000 cruise passengers are expected to visit Port Antonio during the upcoming winter season 2003/2004 with the same number already booked for the 2004/2005 season.
According to a visitor opinion survey in 1999 by the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) 51 per cent of visitors were of the opinion that their visit exceeded their expectations. Another 41 per cent felt that their vacation was about what they expected, while eight per cent were disappointed with their experience. Among the eight per cent who were disappointed, the main given included; disappointment with accommodations, service at the resort, harassment, the weather rain, unfriendly people and the general appearance of the island.
A common complaint from tourism players is the lack of quality entertainment in the resort areas and the need for signature attractions. The feedback for the Dolphin Cove 'Swim with the dolphins' attraction has been overwhelming. The attraction was the number one choice of 20,000 persons polled in a recent British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) poll asking Britons about the "50 things we really want to do before we die".
The State Minister in the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, Dr. Wykeham McNeill, said last week as he addressed the LASCO Top Cop Awards at the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort in Montego Bay, that the records in visitor arrivals must be sustained.
He acknowledged that redoubling the efforts to create an environment within which visitors can have a positive vacation experience, is the avenue to sustain growth in the tourist industry.
TOURISM MASTER PLAN
The Tourism Master Plan for Sustainable Tourism was drafted with that in mind. The plan was centred on five key objectives, growth based on a sustainable market position, enhancing the visitor experience, community-based development, the building of an inclusive industry and environmental sustainability. These objectives are designed to bring the tourism product to the highest standards and maximise earnings from the industry.
In his address last week, Dr. McNeill said while the Tourism Master Plan places emphasis on marketing efforts to bring increased number of visitors to the island, much attention will also be given to increasing the level of spending when they get here.
However, the Master Plan has been in a black hole for the better part of the last three years. The Plan was originally proposed as a ten-year project with specific growth targets to be achieved by the year 2010. However, since it has taken three out of that ten years to prepare a workable document, the time limit has conveniently been omitted. With the cash crunch the Government is now experiencing, they cannot commit to any deadlines.
The Minister of Industry and Tourism, Aloun Assamba, has insisted that the Plan is already at work, notwithstanding the Government's inability to come up with its share US$163 million to begin implementing some of the initial projects outlined in the plan, such as the beautification of resort towns.
One focus of the Tourism Master Plan is to increase investment. In her address to the nation to mark the beginning of Tourism Week in September, Mrs. Assamba announced that the Piñero group out of Spain, planned to construct three new hotels in St. Ann over the next three to four years.
However, as Mr. Dear reported to a recent Gleaner Editors Forum more than 400 rooms were left idle on Gloucester Avenue or the Hip Strip, the prime tourist area of Montego Bay. The closure of these properties, he said were the cause of economic fallout in the city.
Another focus of the plan was to push heritage tourism as the gateway to promoting a totally Jamaican experience for the visitor. The effect of this would be increased visitor expenditure, thereby increasing the revenues earned from the industry. The Government projects visitor expenditure to top US$2.9 billion by the year 2010. Currently a stopover visitor spends an average US$91.74, while cruise visitors spend an average US$80.71, according to Jamaica Tourist Board figures.
CASINO
So while tourists are coming to Jamaica in droves, money is not flowing out of their pockets at the same rate. That is why the call for casino gambling encouraging the visitors to spend has been so resounding. Those pushing for casino gambling feel that this new attraction will earn Jamaica some of the billions of dollars that other destinations have generously cashed in on.
Officially, the Government is opposed to casinos, but acknowledges the growing support for it and have committed to examine the idea at the very least. Director of Tourism, Paul Pennicook, has backed the introduction of casino gaming in Jamaica, saying it would bring a sophisticated entertainment component that would benefit the wider industry. However, he too, like some of those opposed to it, have warned that casino gambling would not be a panacea for the industry.
The churches have been firmly against it, notwithstanding the fact that gambling in various forms is already widespread throughout the country.
SPREADING THE DOLLAR
Part of the reason, it is felt, why demonstrations such as the one in Flankers took place, oblivious to the implications it could have on the tourism industry, is that the industry has been rather exclusive to the community. In other words, persons at the local level, such as the craft vendor, the juice vendor and others, are not convinced that the industry is open to them for business.
This concern was raised at The Gleaner Editors Forum at the company's Western Bureau offices in Montego Bay last Wednesday, by Anglican Bishop Howard Gregory. He expressed strong sentiments about the level of partnership between the local people of the city and the tourism sector, and the exclusion of the smaller players such the craft vendors, which he warned could have serious repercussions for the industry.
In her Tourism Week address, Mrs. Assamba said it was a 'people-centred' industry in which all members of our society should see themselves as participants.
At the conclusion of a three-day summit with private sector leaders in March this year Prime Minister P.J. Patterson signalled the Government's commitment to strengthening this industry to maximise the gains to be had from it.
He said: "We have concluded that tourism, because of its tremendous linkages with other sectors of the economy must be the main catalyst for growth at this time. We have to expand on the product by creating new attractions and we have to continue to build the requisite infrastructure."
Clearly a lot remains to be done.
