Janet Silvera, Senior Tourism Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

A Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) delegation came out of a meeting with Air Jamaica officials yesterday dissatisfied with the national carrier for getting "too little" out of the recent Virgin Atlantic London code-share deal.

As of October, Virgin Atlantic will take over Air Jamaica's London route. Virgin currently operates two flights into Montego Bay weekly from Gatwick and will add two flights into Kingston as part of the new arrangements.

Very concerned

"We are very concerned that Virgin is only adding two flights into Kingston," JHTA president Horace Peterkin told The Gleaner. Promising that his association would become more proactive, the hotel association head said: "If we were involved, we would have insisted that one of the conditions for getting the slot was to bring one additional flight into Montego Bay, particularly on a Saturday."

According to Mr. Peterkin, an additional flight would have improved flexibility, as most vacationers prefer to start their vacation on a weekend.

Calling the meeting attended by Air Jamaica chairman, O.K. Melhado, president Mike Conway and vice-president of marketing, Paul Pennicook, extremely cordial and frank, Mr. Peterkin said the airline which has been losing US$27 million annually on the European route was more concerned with saving on cost, rather than putting any thoughts into the effect it would haveon the destination.

Faced with disruption to a market that shows the potential growth, the JHTA head said he and his team have set up a meeting with British Airways with the hope that some sort of incentive from the Government can help to influence the carrier to rethink its position on the tourism capital, which it pulled out of several years ago.

British Airways currently serve Kingston - one of its most profitable routes in the region and boasts a relationship of over 60 years with the country.

"What we have staring us in the face now, is a growing number of hotel rooms, and a shrinking number of seats out of a market with such great potential to grow the UK and Europe," added Mr. Peterkin.

European currenciesNoting the strength of the European currencies, which makes the island a lot less expensive and far more attractive than two years ago, he cautioned that the resorts that could take this backlash the most would be hotels such as Round Hill Hotel and Villas, Half Moon, Tryall and the Ritz Carlton, whose guests prefer to travel upscale and in luxury on scheduled flights.

His comments were echoed by managing director of Round Hill, Josef Forstmayr who said: "I am not happy with the decision because British Airways would have been my preferred choice because of their ability to connect into continental Europe."

British Airways has a massive network into Europe. Mr. Forstmayr who gets a lot of guests out of Europe, said that Virgin is purely a long-haul carrier that does not have the reach necessary to maintain and grow the market.

"If we need to grow our business in Europe it cannot be through Virgin," he stressed.