By Devon Evans, Gleaner WriterOCHO RIOS, St. Ann:
CHAIRMAN OF the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), Dennis Morrison, has announced changes to the operation of the JTB's regional offices in Jamaica, which will see the Montego Bay office taking charge of co-ordinating all major local activities within the next couple of months.
Another major structural change being made will be the merger of the JTB regional offices in Ocho Rios, Negril and Montego Bay, with offices of the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) to create a Jamaica tourism office.
According to Mr. Morrison, the changes are being made in response to recommendations from a management audit of the JTB's operations which was conducted recently by a group of consultants. The audit also recommended the closure of some of the JTB's overseas offices, as part of moves to enable the board to become more cost-effective in its operation.
Mr. Morrison made the disclosure while speaking at a JTB luncheon at Ruins Restaurant in Ocho Rios.
Speaking about the structural changes to be made locally, the JTB chairman said: "In Jamaica we are going to make Montego Bay the major local office. That is, outside of the corporate office in Kingston, Montego Bay's office will co-ordinate the Jamaican operation, especially in the region (MoBay, Port Antonio, Negril and on the south coast) and we are going to be strengthening that Montego Bay office to be able to co-ordinate all of our activities in these regions which were formerly done by separate regional offices."
Mr. Morrison also spoke about the planned merger with TPDCo. "We are going to be working with TPDCo to create a consolidated tourism office for each of the major resort towns," he said.
He said persons who will be working in the newly-created tourism office will be able to deal with matters related to TPDCo's function, as well as those related to the JTB.
In addition to creating a more cost-effective operation, Mr. Morrison pointed out that by consolidating the offices, the authorities will be able to put in place higher quality personnel to deal with the important areas of marketing and promotion.
