By Ayanna Kirton, Staff ReporterGENERAL manager of public relations at the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), Karen Findlay, said the tourist board has put a number of initiatives in place to assist smaller hotels in becoming more marketable properties.
"In some cases, we have gone in to ensure that these hotels are up to the requisite standards and our current marketing programme gives special emphasis to targeting those aspects of the destination that are off the beaten path," Findlay said.
Emphasising that diversity in the accommodation sector is part of the Jamaica Tourist Board's move to position the island as more than a sun, sand and sea destination, hoteliers like Prince Nunes explained that most visitors come for those very things. He explained that marketing his business was very difficult because of its location, which although it was only a few minutes drive from the sea, former guests opted for a property with its own beach.
Although marketing the 'undiscovered Jamaica' will not yield overnight results, the JTB aims to expose the various facets of the island, targeting adventure seekers, encouraging them to do things unique to Jamaica. "Changing visitor perception of Jamaica from a destination centred only around all inclusive properties to one with varied accommodation will be a gradual process," said Godfrey Dyer, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA). In the meantime, he said the association would continue to encourage smaller hoteliers to undertake their own independent marketing initiatives while taking advantage of subsidies provided by entities such as the national airline for hoteliers to travel to participate in trade shows and other marketing activities abroad.
"Some small hotels do well and some don't because their small budgets don't afford them the opportunity but there are things that can be done," he said.
Carmen McKnight, executive director of the Jamaica Association of Villas and Apartments (JAVA), said that although it was too early to speculate the overall performance of smaller hotels and villas in this winter tourist season, many of the JAVA's member properties were experiencing favourable occupancy levels with an occupancy level averaging 88 per cent in the last two weeks. She said the 400-member association was heartened that the JTB had made the move towards marketing Jamaica's villas and other smaller properties because larger hotels dominated them in this area. The special attention was long overdue since McKnight revealed that research carried out by industry experts showed that the villa and apartment segment of the local accommodation sector ranked the highest in guest satisfaction levels.
"This segment has the most consistent levels of repeat guests it is not just clinical hospitality but a genuinely warm family atmosphere and highly personalised service provided by the smaller properties," she said.
The executive director pointed out, however, that marketing efforts needed to be strengthened in the United Kingdom and Europe where most of the visitors to small properties originate.
"These markets supply the best clientele for villas," she said. "They stay longer and the dollars they spend go directly into fuelling the local economy because they buy from local stores and markets and spend money on all sorts of attractions and activities outside of the hotel," she said.
General manager of the West Ender
property, Audrey Hutchinson, says "Small hotels need all the support we can get because it is very difficult for some to market their properties aggressively and some suffer a great deal because of this."
The property's United States-based owners have employed a range of marketing tactics from Internet marketing to advertisements in bridal magazines to publicise the property.
Ms Hutchinson says the hotel's facilities also help to sell the property and the planned construction of a state of the art conference room will enable the West Ender to capitalise on an additional market.
"We target the leisure sector but because the tourist trade in Negril has never fully recovered from the events of September 11, I want to capitalise on the local corporate market as well."
