Jamaica’s Tourism Product Best in Region – JHTA Past President

Immediate past president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), Nicola Madden-Greig, says Jamaica’s tourism sector has all the ingredients to continue to grow and command a greater share of the world travel market.

“There is really no country in the region that has the quality tourism product that we have,” she told JIS News in a recent interview.

The former JHTA head noted that a Resonance 2016 Caribbean Tourism Quality Index shows that the experiences people enjoy most in the Caribbean, according to their ratings on social media, are culinary, sightseeing, sports and adventure.

“Jamaica has all of these in abundance,” she pointed out.

“The focus on gastronomy by Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett as a key niche segment is timely and speaks to the growing desire of visitors to travel for their passions,” she noted further.

Mrs. Madden-Greig cited a recent study done by the University of Florida which shows that 39 million United States leisure travellers choose a destination based on the availability of culinary activities, while another 35 million seek out culinary activities after a destination is decided upon.

“As the US represents 63.3 per cent of stopover arrivals to Jamaica, this is an important statistic to consider,” She said.

She commended the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) for the recent launch of its ‘Staycation’ campaign, which is aimed at promoting intra-island travel among Jamaicans.

“This was a great move by the JTB, as we work towards building brand Jamaica’s image not only on the global scale but equally on the local front,” she said.

“We are equally elated with Minister Bartlett’s focused approach with the five pillars for growth and look forward to the policy directives and implementation strategies, as we must work on not only maintaining but growing our market share in an increasingly competitive environment,” she added.

Millenial Travellers        

Mrs. Madden-Greig said the country must also look to attract the ‘millennial travellers’, who are now a big piece of the tourism pie.

“They are a creative class, who are mainly knowledge workers, intellectuals and artists,” she said.

“Jamaica must improve its appeal to this new traveller. The country’s reputation for nightlife, culture, sports, art and technology are key assets and as city travel continues to grow, there is still a lot to be done to make places like Kingston and Montego Bay more appealing to this market,” she pointed out.

Kingston, Mrs. Madden-Greig added, must seek to build out not only additional accommodation but must also take advantage of its designation as a creative city for music as well as complete the long and much anticipated Port Royal project.

“The completion of the North-South link of Highway 2000 has opened up the resort areas of the South Coast, Port Antonio, Kingston and the majestic Blue Mountains,” she explained.

The highway connects Caymanas in St Catherine to Mammee Bay in St Ann.

“We are seeing great traction and increased interest as visitors seek the diversity we have to offer. A growing number of our visitors are choosing non-traditional accommodation, which is magnified by the advent of online technology,” Mrs. Madden-Greig noted further.