OCHO RIOS, St. Ann:
PRIME MINISTER P.J. Patterson has reiterated his Government's commitment to development programmes that will benefit Jamaica's tourist industry.
Citing the upgrading of the Sangster International Airport, Montego Bay, as one such programme, he said millions of dollars were to be invested on the airport in the coming months to bring it up to modern, world-class standards.
Mr. Patterson said that soon he would be breaking ground for the start of segment three of the North Coast Highway, which will run from Ocho Rios to Port Antonio. He assured visitors to the island that in the near future, it would be easier for them to travel around the island, exploring the country's rich cultural heritage on good, quality roads.
He was delivering the main address at the 25th anniversary party of Couples, Ocho Rios last week.
Mr. Patterson said Jamaica's tourism industry had enormous potential for growth and that with the people prepared to go to the extremes to make such gains, the Government was confident of the industry's future.
Referring to three cruise ships that were in the Ocho Rios port with more than 4,000 visitors last week, Mr. Patterson said that was testimony to the possibilities.
He said, however, that Government support for tourism development programmes to bring about economic and social improvement was not just to safeguard and advance Jamaica's position as the finest tourist destination, but also to ensure that those advances helped to improve the quality of life for all Jamaicans.
Mr. Patterson congratulated Couples Ocho Rios for setting the standard by which the competition is judged. He described the hotel's 25 years of operation as a fine example of striving for excellence.
Lee Issa, chairman of the House of Issa, owners of the property, said his family was happy with the achievements of Couples, even from the days when it was operated as Tower Isle Hotel. He noted that the decision by his father, the late Abe Issa, to build a hotel in the bushes at Tower Isle in the late 1950s, was an act of faith and foresight, which had proved the sceptics wrong.
Aloun N'Dombet Assamba, Minister of Industry and Tourism, congratulated Couples Ocho Rios for its pioneering role in the all-inclusive concept in Jamaica as well as for its achievement over the last 25 years.
