Allen wants equal treatment for all tourism areas
Published:Tuesday | November 9, 2021 | 10:04 AM
Opposition Spokesperson on Tourism Janice Allen says urgent decisions are needed by the Government on the treatment of Kingston as a tourism destination, including plans for the capital city in the overall recovery of the industry.
On Monday, Kingston hoteliers complained about properties in the capital city are designated compared to those in popular resort towns.
They want Kingston to be designated as part of the special Resilient Corridor or to have the tourism bubble scrapped altogether and for vaccinated visitors to be allowed to fly into Kingston without the red tape that is reportedly hurting their businesses.
Double-vaccinated visitors must quarantine for eight days unless vacationing within the Resilient Corridor, which was created in 2020, a rule that will not change any time soon, Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett has confirmed.
Unvaccinated visitors must also continue to quarantine for 14 days, the minister said.
Kingston attracts mainly Jamaicans and business people who must undergo PCR testing on arrival at US$150 or stay in their hotel rooms or homes for the period.
In a statement, Allen said with tourism recovery moving apace, the government must immediately clarify the situation regarding Kingston.
“It could not have been the intention to provide the resilient corridor and special protocols only for some areas when tourism stretches across the entire island.”
Allen said there are now many hotels, tourism-related businesses and workers in Kingston being seriously affected.
She said many tourism interests in the capital city have been speaking openly on the adverse impact the continued exclusion is having on their viability and the future of the tourism product in Kingston and ultimately the workers.
The opposition spokesperson is arguing that as the recovery reaches a critical stage, it is extremely important that the government addresses the issue in a fulsome way, realising tourism's importance to the overall economy of the country and the fact that the industry in the capital is of significance.
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