MINISTER OF Industry and Tourism, Aloun N'dombet Assamba, has said that the country should have a good winter tourist season, with developments so far indicating a marked increase in hotel bookings over last year.
"We have been doing really good. We have started our winter advertisements and Jamaica Reservation Services, which operates our 1-800 number, has indicated to me that they are getting 800 calls a day and that people are booking up to December. So I think it is looking up. We expect to have a good season and so far it has been good," she stated.
Estimates are for 1,349,338 stopover arrivals this year, a 6.8 per cent increase in the 1,263,632 visitors last year. The projected figure is 5.7 per cent better than arrivals for 2001 and two per cent more than arrivals for 2000.
In the meantime, cruise ship arrivals are expected to increase by 19.8 per cent to 1,000,000, which is 165,159 more than the 834,841 recorded for 2000. The figure represents a 19 per cent increase over 2001 and is 10.2 per cent more than arrivals for 2000.
Whilst the Minister is pleased that the hotels are full, and property owners may soon be able to stop some of the discounting that they have been forced to do, she has expressed concern about the prospect of war between Iraq and the United States. Over 70 per cent of visitors to the island originate from the United States.
"There are some challenges, which we might have to face, but we are putting some contingency plans in place, as to how to respond if hostilities should break out," she said.
The Industry and Tourism Minister said that tourists could feel safe when they visit the island.
"Our tourists are really safe when they come here. The percentage of crime against tourists is less than 0.01 per cent", she stated, adding, "what I want to make sure the country realises, is that tourism is not something which is imposed upon them, but something that is good for us".
Currently, tourism brings in 50 per cent of the foreign exchange that the country earns, which translates into serious business. The Minister contends that "as more and more Jamaicans get involved in the tourism industry and get the economic benefits, then they will want to secure the industry and so we will see that we don't have to worry about crime against tourists".
