Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller (fourth right) is assisted by Tourism Minister Aloun Assamba (third right) and Camile Needham, executive director of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), in cutting the ribbon to mark the 17th annual staging of Jamaica Product Exchange (Japex) which officially opened at the Sunset Jamaica Grande Resort and Spa in Ocho Rios, St. Ann on Sunday night. Japex started on Sunday and ended yesterday. Others in photo from left areIan Kerr, managing director at Sunset Jamaica Grande; Carolle Guntley, director general in the Ministry of Tourism, Entertainment and Culture; Edmund Bartlett, opposition spokesman on Tourism, Dr. Wykeham McNeill (partly hidden), State Minister of Tourism; Horace Peterkin, president of the JHTA, and Basil Smith, director of tourism. - Photo by Noel Thompson

Noel Thompson, Freelance Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

Director of Tourism, Basil Smith, is forecasting that 2007 will be a challenging year for Jamaica's tourism in the United States, based on a number of inevitable issues currently being experienced.

He said however that, in spite of the circumstances, there was a glimmer of hope that Jamaica would overcome the challenges and 2008 would be a good year for the industy.

Numerous challenges

"There are challenges facing us. The passport regime being one, the relative softness of the U.S. economy and, with the Cancun market having been off the market for a year, has returned with completely refurbished products and a very substantial marketing budget, it is evident that a large share of the business that we got from the U.S. has gone to Cancun, Mexico," Smith stated.

He added that other irritants such as the malaria and CARICOM visa implementation have had some effect on the downturn in Jamaica's business.

Smith was speaking to The Gleaner at the 2007 staging of the Jamaica Product Exchange (Japex) at the Sunset Jamaica Grande Resort and Spa in Ocho Rios, St. Ann on Monday.

Not enough business

He said that, as far as it related to the factors affecting all destinations concerned, it was evident that the United States was not producing as much business for 2007 as it did in 2006. Hawaii, the Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands are among those being affecte being exempt from passport requirements.

"Jamaica has, however, been quite successful in shifting the ratio on dependency from the U.S. market almostexclusively and have increased business out of Canada and Europe phenomenally. That is what has really enabled us to keep our attrition down to 2.1 per cent so far this year," Smith said.

He emphasised, however, that the U.S. market would always primarily be Jamaica's marketplace, adding that the Jamaica Tourist Board was very concerned that the U.S. was producing less business across the board.

Seventy-two per cent of Jamaica's tourism business comes from the U.S.