CARIBBEAN/BARBADOS: Tourism Sector Braces for War

Tourism sector braces for war
 
Observer Reporter
Wednesday, March 19, 2003
 
WESTERN BUREAU -- While forward bookings have fallen off, tourism officials 
say there has been no wholesale exodus of visitors from the island. But they 
are now putting contingency plans in place, in case war breaks out between 
Iraq and the US -- the country's main source of visitors.

According to president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, Josef 
Forstmayr, potential visitors are adopting a "wait and see attitude" before 
making bookings for the summer season. But he said the country continues to 
have a fairly good winter tourist season, with occupancy levels holding 
between 60 to 90 per cent, one of the best winters it has had in the last two 
years.

The JHTA head said several upscale properties between Montego Bay and Hanover 
were actually overbooked, as visitors had not cancelled bookings that were 
made before the hostilities escalated.

The Association, Forstmayr added, had already put measures in place to help 
visitors who may be stranded in the event of war between the Middle Eastern 
country and the North American super power.

"We don't think that they will necessarily be stranded but you never know, if 
the United States should have a terror alert, what will happen to the 
airspace," he said.

Mindful of the competitive nature of the world's tourism industry, he opted 
not to provide too many details but said local hotels would do everything 
possible to make sure their guests are comfortable and safe.

"We will have to ensure their safety and security, that's the most important 
thing right now," Forstmayr told the Observer.

He added that as the war becomes imminent, it would be very difficult to 
formulate specific plans to minimise its effects of the tourism sector.

'"Right now there are so many uncertainties and possibilities that require so 
many remedies that, while we are aware of the remedies we really can't apply 
them until the situation happens," the JHTA head said.

"What we have to do is just to sit tight and watch how the situation develops 
before taking any action," he added.

Meanwhile, the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) has instructed its overseas 
advertising agencies to immediately suspend it's $US4.5-million winter 
advertising programme if, and when, the war begins.

"We have already contacted our advertising agencies and told them that the 
moment the hostility begins, they should temporarily pull the ads from the 
media houses," director of tourism, Paul Pennicook, told the Observer 
yesterday.

He explained that the ads would initially be pulled for a week, during which 
the situation would be assessed and a decision taken on how to proceed.

"During the suspension we would have to monitor (the war) to see how soon we 
come back on; and when we do come back on, we will have to make sure that we 
have a different message that suits the time. We cannot say (what type of 
message we would use) at this time or what it would be, because we would have 
to watch the situation before arriving at one," Pennicook said.

The suspension of the advertisement programme, the tourism director said, is 
just one aspect of a raft of plans the tourism sector is considering.

"We plan to also communicate directly, and often, with the travel trade in 
terms of keeping them updated (about) the fact that everything in Jamaica is 
fine, and for them to encourage visitors to come to Jamaica," he explained.

The JTB was scheduled to meet with industry stakeholders last night, to 
outline and discuss its strategy to deal with the worrying situation as, 
according, to Pennicook, the Board wants to put a "cohesive plan" in place to 
deal with any eventuality.

"For example, if it becomes a problem for people to go in and out of the 
States (USA) we want to be sure that all (properties) here are offering the 
same thing in terms of how we handle (visitors) on the ground. So we want to 
be prepared for any eventuality and we want to be consistent with our 
message," he explained.

Hoping that the conflict between Iraq and the United States would be short, 
Pennicook said once the hostilities are over, the JTB would be back in the 
field very aggressively with a strong message to drum up business for the 
island.



SOURCE: Jamaica Observer