Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, McNeill Confident Jamaica’s Tourism Sector Will Regain Momentum After Hurricane Sandy

Kingston, Jamaica – Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism and Entertainment, the Hon. Dr. Wykeham McNeill has expressed optimism that the island’s tourism sector will rebound and not suffer devastating fallout from the effects of Hurricane Sandy on the Northeast of the United States, which remains the island’s main source market for visitors.

Minister McNeill comments come as officials in the US try to determine the extent of the impact caused by the storm, which hit the Northeast of the country yesterday causing the cancellation of thousands of flights.

The Minister underscored that “the Northeast of the US is very important to our tourism sector as it accounts for nearly 75% of our source market from that country. However, though the United States is our main source market I am optimistic that the fallout from the impact of Sandy will not depress the demand for travel for too long.”

Hon. Dr. Wykeham McNeill
Minister McNeill explained that many flights which were cancelled are expected to be rescheduled and should see many of the visitors booked to travel to the island arriving in the days and weeks to come. He outlined that “though there has been cancellation of flights, most of these flights will be rescheduled in the days to come so we should see our arrivals rebounding.”

Minister McNeill emphasised that “our performance since the start of the year has been very good and this has proven that demand for our product is very high.” He added that “we will be resuming advertising in the US immediately after the US Presidential election on November 6, and we will continue to work with our partners to develop strategies aimed at resuming momentum and fuelling further growth in the tourism sector.”

Additionally the Minister outlined that despite the impact of hurricane Sandy, which hit Jamaica on Wednesday October 24, he is confident that the sector should recover in the coming months. He expressed that “we have been in constant dialogue with our tourism partners, including tour operators, from before, during and after the storm and have been highlighting the fact that Jamaica is open for business. Our partners are very loyal and we are confident that with their continued support in marketing Jamaica we should regain momentum shortly. The reality is that demand for travel to Jamaica has been at an all time high and I believe this general trend should continue.”

Minister McNeill continued that “I would like to express my condolences to the families in the US, Jamaica and the other affected countries that have lost loved ones during this weather phenomenon. My sincere sympathy goes out to those who have also suffered loss of property and loved ones and wish them all the best as they seek to recover from this storm.”