PRESSURE ON Government to resume advertising Jamaica in Europe mounted yesterday, with the latest demand coming from the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) for resources to be provided immediately.
The umbrella hotel grouping said information before it shows that a range of advertisements in various European media in 2003, "contributed greatly" to a 22 per cent increase in tourist business from the United Kingdom and other areas in Europe.
The JHTA's call comes behind that of hotel mogul Gordon 'Butch' Stewart and Opposition spokesman on tourism, Edmund Bartlett, who first raised the issue this month.
NO SHORT-TERM FALL-OUT
The Jamaica Tourist Board, while admitting that Europe was a growth market for Jamaica, said no short-term fall-out was expected from pulling advertisements now, given, they said, that Europe was not the island's major source of visitors. The United States accounts for more than 70 per cent of arrivals.
The hotel group however insists that Europe is a lucrative market in which Jamaica needs to maintain a presence.
