Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer
MONTREAL, Canada:
OBVIOUSLY CONCERNED with the devastating effect the Western Hemisphere Passport Initiative will have on the region, the New York Times has committed US$1 million (J$65 million) to a Caribbean public awareness campaign.
Within six months, the initiative requiring all Americans to have a passport when travelling to the Caribbean becomes law, a challenge that the region's closet competitor Mexico and Canada have not had to confront immediately.
Arguably one of United States' most respected newspapers, the publication's managing director of the Caribbean and Latin America, Patricia Ecke, made the offer to the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) during the Caribbean Hotel Industry Conference (CHIC 2006) in Miami last Tuesday.
LETTERS OF APPEAL
The New York Times initiative comes after several letters of appeal, lobbying of the region's ambassadors and senators which have not helped in levelling the playing field for the region.
"We have written to the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of State and several senators about the effect this law will have on the Caribbean, but we have got no response," Alec Sanguinetti, CEO of CHA, told The Gleaner.
Research by the World Travel and Tourism Council has shown that the region stands to lose US$1.8 billion in revenue and 188,000 jobs in tourism.
Jamaica also stands to lose 58 per cent in visitor export and US$1,130 million in revenue if the region is not given the two-year extension Canada and Mexico have been allowed.
CHA INFORMATION ADVERTS
The newspaper's gesture, one of the most significant to be made by any private sector organisation since the topic came to the spotlight in 2005, will see the New York Times placing specific CHA information adverts on a space-available basis.
Secretary general of the Caribbean Tourism Organisa-tion, Vincent Vanderpool Wallace, has described the offer as one of the best example of a real friend.
"They (the New York Times) have recognised the problems the region is going to have and instead of us going to them to ask for help, they came to us," Wallace said.
He added that he hopes other media houses will follow suite and help in the important and extremely significant campaign.
