Janet Silvera, Senior Tourism Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

Director of Tourism Basil Smith said the writing was on the wall long ago that the island was losing its appeal in the spring break market, yet industry stakeholders paid little or no attention to the signals.

Responding to reports carried in last Sunday's Gleaner that the once-vibrant market had seen a reduction of 50 per cent in bookings, the tourism director said tour operators have been warning of bleak prospects for the past four years.

"Everyone with interest in the market segment was aware that Jamaica as a spring break destination was losing its appeal compared to Canc?n and Acapulco where popular named artists are showcased in concerts covered by MTV/BET, complemented by major nightclubs with fancy light shows," revealed the tourism director. "And that if we did not do anything to develop our product, it would die."

He said that Jamaica has reggae and soca and yet no major event is on the calendar for the five-week seasonal activity, which implies the island does not want this share of the business, and the appeal of the tour operators has fallen on deaf ears Canc?n was closed for 2006 spring break, Acapulco flourished as a new destination with large hotels, huge nightclubs with state-of-the-art discos, and a vibrant night life. "Jamaica would have to catch up with our spring break offering or lose the market," Smith added.

Regaining the market

Accordingly, he said that the Jamaica Tourist Board questioned the operators as to what would be the best strategy to regain the declining market. The response was the same: "Negril has no entertainment at the level of your competition. The new Mexico hotels were four stars with all the modern amenities and priced similar to Jamaica, accommodating hundreds."

Coupled with those challenges is the passsport issue, which has also negatively affected the market, as not all students can afford the expedited price and will not commit until the passport is received.

Explained Smith: "Jamaica has a co-op programme to support the efforts of the tour operators which began in January to advertise in college newspaper advertising. But, the tour operators continue to tell us that the market is slow and it will remain slow because we do not have the product to draw the number of students that we would like."

Jamaica's venture into spring break marketing was made in early 1980. Sunburst Holidays, a key special event tour operator to Jamaica, had success at packaging low-price vacations to Negril in triple and quad accommodations to the student market. Then, the largest hotel was the Sundowner. Only a couple hundred students came per week.

There was no formal programme; beach, Red Stripe beer and local entertainment was sufficient.

Growth in the market

Spring break tour operators, student travel services and Sun Splash Tours emerged and two companies joined Sunburst Holidays, selling packages to Jamaica, and the market grew.

More small hotels were added to the Negril landscape and the business grew to where the operators were contracting large blocks on Air Jamaica and running their own charter programmes. The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) was forced to look at the segment as viable even to the dissatisfaction of hoteliers who felt the students were taking up scarce seats needed for more affluent tourists in the middle of the winter season.

Spring break students were utilising the small hotel rooms of Montego Bay and Negril and became a segment which qualified for JTB marketing support.

The popular destinations then were The Bahamas, Bermuda and Barbados. Later, Canc?n was developed and domestic U.S.A. Bermuda decided to drop its interest in the market segment because of the nature of the client. The Bahamas still has a small programme. Jamaica began to be a featured destination in the '90s, with Negril having the strongest appeal and Montego Bay much less because of the limited small hotels, and having only beach clubs to work with, namely Cornwall Beach.

"The call then, and still is now, for more activities to appeal to students to grow the business," said the tourism director.