Jamaica throws a winner, with new initiatives and revival of a classic program
One thing the game of cricket has in common with baseball and public relations is the importance of the pitch. Jamaica-a country that lives, eats and breathes cricket-is expert at pitching its tourism product to the rest of the world. In the face of a September battering from Hurricane Ivan, the Jamaica Tourist Board quickly dispensed with its message of recovery and shifted into a promotion touting an array of exciting new developments.
Paul Pennicook, director of tourism, Jamaica Tourist Board, said in October, a little more than a month after Hurricane Ivan rocked the island: "We're in a very fortunate position in having almost the entire country functioning normally. Those few hotels that are closed will be open by winter, and the few that remain closed choose to do so to finish scheduled renovations and extra work."
Over the next five years, more than 5,000 rooms will be added to Jamaica's inventory. The south coast of the island will gain a major resort when the new couples-only, 360-room Sandals Whitehouse Hotel opens Feb. 14, 2005. Substantial projects are also on the books from AM Resorts, Grupo Pinero, Iberostar and the Riu group.
"We are very adequately served with airlift, particularly from North America," said Pennicook. "Every major American carrier, except United, flies into Jamaica at the moment. And United will come in December of this year, with twice-weekly flights out of Chicago to Montego Bay." Other recent developments include the introduction of service by Continental out of Houston into Montego Bay; and American Airlines increasing its daily service from Miami to Montego Bay, with three flights in each direction.
Easing access
Jamaica is famous for its resorts and scenic beauty-and also for the slow going on the road that links the major resort areas of Negril in the west to Port Antonio in the east. This "long and winding road" is in the process of getting shorter. A new North Coast Highway has been in the works for several years, and tangible results will make it an easier drive for visitors along the island's north shore. "The North Coast Highway was scheduled to be finished by the end of this year," said Pennicook. "We've adjusted that date and expect it to be finished by summer 2005."
During a breakfast meeting at the recent Caribbean Tourism Conference, held last month in Aruba, the Hon. Aloun N'dombet-Assamba, minister of industry and tourism for Jamaica, discussed a possible new branding initiative for a portion of the island nation's north coast as a "Jamaica Riviera." N'dombet-Assamba also referred to Kingston as the "heartbeat of the Caribbean region." The Jamaica Tourist Board is mounting a campaign to increase the number of tourists visiting the capital for stays of one night or longer. This includes a refurbishment of Kingston's Hip Strip, with improvements to lighting and security, the introduction of street entertainment and artisans, and the establishment of the Hip Strip as a nighttime pedestrian zone by early 2005.
The Caribbean is abuzz over the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007, which will comprise over 51 days of cricket events at eight venues in eight countries. The event is expected to draw 68,000 international visitors to the region and is being touted by the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) as the single largest event ever in the Caribbean. But with 1 million tickets for sale and an estimated 250,000 visitors-68,000 of them international visitors-will the island's infrastructure be ready? Noted Pennicook: "We are working to see that accommodations on the island are ready when the World Cup gets here." Pennicook also mentioned that a number of large-scale projects are scheduled for completion between now and 2007.
Reviving a classic
One of the most original tourist programs in the Caribbean was Jamaica's Meet-the-People program, which provided an option for visitors to reach out to the island's inhabitants and enhance their enjoyment of the real Jamaica. The Jamaica Tourist Board has relaunched the program, which was introduced in 1968. Visitors are matched with Jamaican hosts who share a common profession, hobby or interest, enabling them to meet Jamaicans and experience their way of life.
"Today's traveler is looking for more than just a holiday on the beach," said Pennicook. "They're also looking for a cultural component. Our visitors have told us that one of our most tremendous assets is our people. We need to promote this in our tourism." Pennicook pointed out that if a first-time visitor makes Meet-the-People part of that first visit, they'll become a repeat visitor. Details are online at www.visitjamaica.com.
In addition to fine-tuning its promotional efforts, Jamaica is working to maintain the island with a master plan of sustainable development that has been in operation for 10 years. Successful interventions in Jamaica include assistance to more than 70 hotels in implementing environmental audits or assessments, helping to prepare 29 hotels to achieve Green Globe International Certification and assisting with environmental audits for 23 manufacturing companies, all of which are now implementing environmental management systems in preparation for ISO14001 certification.
The Environmental Audits for Sustainable Tourism (EAST) project is spearheading this mission to strengthen Jamaica as an environmentally healthy tourism destination; it has won wide acclaim in Jamaica and overseas for its role in "greening" the hospitality and tourism industry in Jamaica over the past seven years. Said Hugh Cresser, (EAST) project coordinator: "By all indications, we're doing well. Industry executives are all aware of the value placed in the marketplace on environmental health, and the public and private sectors are totally committed to our program."
EAST prepared the four Jamaican hotels that were the first in the world to achieve Green Globe certification in 1998 and has since been instrumental in "greening" the curriculum at the Runaway Bay HEART Hotel & Training Institute-the first school in the world to be Green Globe certified, a voluntary international accreditation program headquartered in the U.K.
Jamaica is taking the lead in a brand-new initiative with the expressed goal of "greening" an entire destination, rather than a hotel or attraction. "We want to makePortland and the Port Antonio area into a green zone-to reposition Portland as a sustainable tourism development," said Cresser. "We've gone to the public and private sectors to receive benchmark status for Portland and ultimately green Globe certification."
Cresser distinguishes sustainable tourism from ecotourism. He explains that the benchmark process includes establishing that the destination satisfies basic Green Globe environmental standards. These include evaluating how the destination deals with solid waste, water quality, water waste management, energy, community involvement and cultural heritage. A basic international standard is set. Said Cresser: "If they meet the established criteria, then we're acknowledged to be operating at an acceptable level. Right now we've collected the data, and we're preparing to submit it to Green Globe.
Once you go, you know
But all the environmental practices and promotional campaigns in the world won't draw visitors if the trade isn't aware of them. "Travel agents can read about Jamaica, but actually visiting the country is a far more rewarding experience," said David Shields, deputy director of tourism-marketing, Jamaica Tourist Board. The country's new marketing tagline is "Once you go, you know."
"The tagline is meant to work for both first-time visitors and repeat visitors," said Shields. "The ads stimulate curiosity in the first-time visitor and provide a repeat visitor the feeling of finding a personal destination of their own."
To bring more travelers and travel agents together, the Jamaica Tourist Board is working on its Web site. "We're improving the back-end database to make it more easily accessed by agents," said Shields. "We're adding value to our Web site for agents by adding a function that allows visitors to the site to find an agent in their zip code that we've certified as being a Jamaica specialist."
Travel agents also can expect to see a revamped Jamaica educational program. "We're dialoguing with our team in the field, looking at educational, fun and creative opportunities and incentives for travel agents," said Shields. "We'll be offering a program that is more than just print-based-it will also be a program that is easily accessed from the Web." The program is still in the planning and discussion stage. Look for the new Jamaica Specialist program to be offered sometime in 2005.
