Adrian Frater and Monique Hepburn, Staff Reporters
WESTERN BUREAU:
REGARDLESS OF Hurricane Dennis' material impact on Jamaica, the island is still expected to take a major financial battering on account of the loss of projected revenue from the travel and hotel sector.
"Jamaica will lose millions of dollars ... no question about it," Horace Peterkin, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), told The Gleaner yesterday. "We will have to absorb the cost of those guests who should have left the island today and can't and we will have to tack on at least two days on the vacation of those who should have come in today."
The JHTA president said that a hurricane this early in the season, could pose future problems for the sector. He cited a potential loss of confidence in the destination by travel agents who are traditionally wary of booking vacations in hurricane prone months such as September and October.
"Travel agents and tour operators could start re-evaluating Jamaica as a tourism destination if we start having hurricanes this early in the year on a consistent basis," said Mr. Peterkin. "Presently they are afraid to book guests in the traditional rainy months of September and October. This is the first time in around 60 years we have had a hurricane around this time of the year."
HURRICANE GUARANTEE
While he was not able to come up with a specific figure, Mr. Peterkin said that many resorts have an established hurricane guarantee for guests, which ensures that they are compensated for vacations ruined in the event of a hurricane. In some instances guests are given back two free days and in extreme cases an entire vacation.
"Even though there is a policy to say if you don't show up you forfeit, we see what we are doing as an investment in the future," said Mr. Peterkin, in explaining the decision to give free days to those visitors who were not able to get into the island to start their vacation yesterday. "If we don't treat them well, they will not be encouraged to come back here in the future."
As The Gleaner news team travelled around the resort towns in the west, it was clear that some visitors had no intention of allowing the expected hurricane to affect their plans to have a good time in Jamaica.
"We are not scared about the hurricane, we are here to have a good time," said a visitor as she soaked up the sea and sand on the Sunset Beach, in Montego Bay. "It is just one of those things we have to live with."
