Industry leaders outline Jamaica’s luxury tourism advantage

Visitors come to Jamaica for more than its sea, sand and sun. Different travellers seek different experiences, and among them are luxury travellers. While not the largest segment of the market, they are an important one. But who are they, and what do they want from Jamaica?

These questions, and more, were part of the conversations that ensued in the second panel of the recent JAPEX 2026 trade show event that took place at Moon Palace Jamaica in Ocho Rios, St Ann. It was entitled ‘Luxury Travel and the Jamaica Proposition’ and was moderated by Sharon Logan, director of sales and marketing at Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay.

The panellists were Josef Forstmayr, managing director, Round Hill Hotel; Eva Damato, senior director, Luxury Lifestyle Marketing Travel Leaders Network; and John Byles, executive deputy chairman, Chukka Caribbean Adventures.

In her opening remarks, Logan hinted at the answers to those questions when she mentioned “connection”, “access” and “discovering something that is unique to a place”.

“And that is where the Jamaica proposition becomes interesting,” she remarked.

Luxury travel, then, is personal and exclusive. Her first question to Damato was how Jamaica could leverage its strengths to provide a world-class experience that is distinctively Jamaican.

Damato said the travel market is a five-trillion-dollar industry and that the luxury traveller wants a curated experience, something that nobody else has or that is delivered in a way no one else can. They like personal interaction and are looking for something at the next level, with privacy and exclusivity. Having found something they like, they will come back. Value, she said, must be in the experiences.

Travellers are willing to pay more for an experience that is genuinely special. They are not the ones you find staying at the larger hotels. They don’t like to tour en masse but might go to attractions where they get personal attention, curated meals, and someone to make their experience frictionless. The experience must be memorable and exceptional.

Forstmayr’s first question was about what gives Jamaica the natural edge in the luxury-travel industry. He said he found Jamaica to be one of the most authentic experiences anyone could have, and that he was “privileged to be in the luxury travel space” from the time he arrived here in 1979 and that he had met many luxury travellers from all over the globe.

The basis of everything you do in this industry, he said, is to always be true to who you are. “You must always use what you got, whether it’s given to you by nature or by your history … I call it polishing the jewel. Don’t copy. Focus on what you have. And how you can better create an authentic experience.”

Each one of the individual resorts does what it does extremely well, Forstmayr said, and that puts great responsibility on the destination. “We have luxury. It’s all around us, with resorts with unique attributes, and it all goes back to the people, and again, if you treat the people well, the staff will treat the guests well.”

He also remarked that there was no group of people quite like the Jamaicans anywhere in the region, though St Lucia and Grenada might come close. “But we run the show, that’s the reality,” he said.

And, it’s not only about the hotel, but also about the destination the moderator commented.

Today’s traveller wants to go out and experience the destination. “What do you think makes a cultural experience feel truly luxurious?” she asked Byles.

“They want authenticity, they want natural beauty, they want adventure, a pesonalised touch. They want to connect and want to come back,” Byles replied. “It is not the what. It is the how, how it is done.” It is about service, less hustle and bustle, and the travellers want the chance to discover what Jamaica has to offer. Then, how ready is Jamaica as a destination to deliver the level of service consistently across the destination?”

Speaking from the “hotelier’s perspective”, Forstmayr said it is about emotional intelligence, how well the staff connects with the customers, not just about how they remember their names, but how to engage them in an emotional conversation that is important to the guests.

Forstmayr said Jamaican hotel workers are way above others in the Caribbean because of their training. “It shows that our people are our greatest assets … If we can get the most difficult thing right, which is emotional intelligence, everything else we can fix. We have luxury, but how do we sell it? The people, the most important core instrument, are here. If it can be done at Round Hill with me at the helm, dictator or not, it can be done, with the right trainers.”

editorial@gleanerjm.com