Janet Silvera, Gleaner Writer
Tourists enjoy the white sands of Negril. Tourism officials announced yesterday plans to launch an advanced winter promotional programme. - ANDREW SMITH/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
WESTERN BUREAU:
TOURISM OFFICIALS say they will immediately embark on a series of aggressive marketing strategies in a bid to increase the number of visitors to Jamaica during this "normally testing period".
The decision came out of an extraordinary joint meeting of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) and the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) at the Ministry of Tourism yesterday.
The meeting was called as a matter of urgency as tourism stakeholders watched all prospects of an eight per cent increase in visitor arrivals for 2005 evaporate during the last four months, evidenced by a drop in fall season bookings from September to November.
OFFER PACKAGE DEALS
"We are urging the entire industry to combine their rates with the national carrier - Air Jamaica, and offer package deals that will entice last minute bookings for the fall season," said JHTA president Horace Peterkin.
The meeting decided that with immediate effect the joint committee of the JHTA and JTB will implement the following measures:
- a re-launch of the Air Jamaica airfare promotion tied into the Jamaica Tourist Board's 50th anniversary marketing strategy
- a major fly-in of between 1,000 and 2,000 travel agents from several gateways in the United States on a blitz throughout the island
- cutting of JTB road show rates to make them more affordable for small hoteliers the bringing forward to September of the JTB's television advertising programme.
