Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

Calling the downturn in tourism "a monster", Minister Edmund Bartlett has rolled out a number of initiatives on the back of the formation of a task force to tackle the potential crisis.

Bartlett, speaking at a Spanish-Jamaican Foundation press conference at the Iberostar Hotel in Montego Bay yesterday, said he would be going to London on November 12, where he would meet with Spanish partners, with a view to shaping the way forward.

The minister also said he would be going to Vancouver, Canada, to talk to the different agents there on the back of a new flight from the city to Jamaica.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Tourism held an emergency meeting with representatives of public- and private-sector interests in the industry.

Out of that meeting, it was revealed that a task force would be formed and would have its first meeting on Tuesday.

According to a press release from the ministry, it was also decided that "a revised formula of destination and individual product advertising, high-level visits to tour-operator and travel-agent partners, as well as an intensive programme of destination-familiarisation trips by 'best-of-the-best' agents to Jamaica, were critical to ensure that the island's hotels and attractions were positioned at 'top-of-mind' when travel options are being discussed with their clients during these difficult economic times".

Beef up niche markets

On the back of that release, Bartlett has also pointed to the beefing up of niche markets to fight the 'monster,' indicating focuses on health, heritage, faith-based and sports tourism.

On Tuesday, president of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), Jean Claude Baumgarten, admitted that 2009 would be a tough year for the tourist industry.

Addressing delegates at the Vacation Ownership Investment Conference (VOIC) in Orlando, Florida, the expert said there was definitely a mood of cyclical downturn, as things became more volatile in travel and tourism.

In March, the WTTC president predicted that the United States was, and would remain, the largest travel and tourist industry in the world. He also argued that it appeared that the saying, 'When America sneezes, Europe catches a cold and the rest of the world dies of pneumonia', no longer held.

However, as he addressed a large group of timeshare business operators, he carefully measured his words, obviously uncertain of the future of the industry.

"I can't say if travel and tourism will remain one of the high priorities of consumers, but I believe that by 2010, there should be less pressure on the market," he said.

'Hard' times

His comments come at a time when Jamaican hotels are seeing a 25 per cent increase in the cost of food, are paying electricity bills averaging $20 million per month.

The thriving industry currently creates 238 million jobs worldwide, contributing 9.9 per cent to GDP.

"The housing market, commodities, oil prices, inflation in the US and Eurozone, and even in Japan, have all contributed to the impact that is now being felt," said Baumgarten, days before yesterday's announcement that Wall Street had just completed its worst week in history.

He said there was too much uncertainty about what would be the disposable income of consumers.

He noted that during the turmoil, governments would need money and the travel industry was the perfect victim for the Treasury. The tourism chief warned that this was not the time to overload the goose that lays the golden egg.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com