Kingston, Jamaica – Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism and Entertainment, the Hon. Dr. Wykeham McNeill, is urging members of the local attractions sub-sector to place added focus on helping to build the island’s resort areas by introducing new attractions that will improve Jamaica’s tourism product.
Minister McNeill issued his charge while addressing members of the Association of Jamaica Attractions Ltd. (AJAL) during their Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at The Jewel Dunn’s River Beach Resort & Spa, Ocho Rios on the weekend.
Minister McNeill revealed that Jamaica’s cruise arrival figures are very encouraging citing that “our latest figures indicate that for the period January to August 2012, total cruise arrivals increased by 33.9 % with 937,343 visitors compared to the 700,137 visitors recorded for the same period last year. He added that “in terms of performance by port for the January to August period, cruise arrivals for Falmouth rose by 62.6% with 412, 812 visitors compared to the 253,940 recorded for the same period last year, arrivals for Montego Bay increased by 48.7 % with 248,224 visitors compared to the 166,956 cruise visitors for the same period in 2011, while cruise arrivals for Ocho Rios declined by 0.9 % as there were 275, 968 visitors compared to the 278,573 visitors recorded over the same period last year, when a number of ships shifted calls to Falmouth.”
However he said the cruise arrivals could surge even further if players in the attractions subsector support the development of the tourism product overall. The Minister told the group that “this is actually the period to build again. The approach will be from the resort area level, to create a breakthrough for each resort area that will keep the product fresh and perpetually appealing.”
Minister McNeill emphasized that, “destination Jamaica still has much appeal and with the recent extensive exposure the London Olympics provided, a fresh spark has been lit across the globe, renewing the curiosity towards and appeal of our people. We are therefore encouraging a new focus on introducing attractions that showcase the culture and heritage of Jamaica.”
The Minister told the group that the first critical step taken in this building process was the reinstatement of the Resort Boards earlier this year to facilitate broad based discussion and consultation. “These bodies will act as sounding boards and as conduits for information flow from the community and private sector to public sector,” he explained.
Among the activities at AJAL’s AGM was the election of new executive members. The results saw Gregory Burrowes of Dolphin Cove Ltd. being re-elected as President for a second term, Fabia Lamm of Green Grotto Caves being elected as 1st Vice President; David Shields of Island Routes Caribbean Adventure Tours as 2nd Vice President; Althea Bryan of Blue Mountain Bicycle Tours as Treasurer; Norma Bailey-Moore of Mystic Mountain as Company Secretary; and Andre Dixon of Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, Venella Pasmore of Five Star Water Sports, and Mandy Sprague of Colorful Jamaica as Directors.
