A NEW Montego Bay tourism destination company, New Vision Travel And Tours, will seek to lure visitors to Jamaica by way of a marketing and promotions blitz across the United States, Canada and Europe.
President and chief executive officer of New Vision Travel, Montego Bay business executive, Solomon Goode, announced in a statement yesterday that he would target the key, perennially-lucrative areas of the three global regions.
The United States supplies roughly 71 per cent of tourists coming to Jamaica - hence New Vision Travel's main outreach will be in that country, Mr. Goode says.
The thrust will centre on key areas of the densely-populated U.S. Eastern Seaboard, taking in Boston, the tri-state region of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut; and on down to Miami.
In the midwest, New Vision Travel will concentrate on Detroit and Chicago, in particular. On the Pacific west coast, California's main city, Los Angeles, will be highlighted, although the entire state is wide open for business, Mr. Goode points out.
Europe and Canada combine to comprise the other 29 per cent of Jamaica's tourism. Europe - comprising the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France and Spain, in that order - has recently overtaken Canada as Jamaica's second-important tourism market share, Mr. Goode reports, but Canada remains a buoyant, strong supplier.
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New Vision Travel will work closely with international tour operators, wholesalers, travel agents and group incentive houses, many of whose executives have been in close dialogue with Mr. Goode. Locally, the new company will interface with Jamaica's ground tour operators, as it moves to provide such hospitality industry facilities as accommodation, ground transportation, airport transfers and tours across the island.
The company plans to come on stream during the upcoming winter tourism season, which starts on December 15 - and Mr. Goode predicts it will be what he describes as "an overall good season" for the island.
He based his forecast on overseas industry analyses, and said Jamaica should benefit tremendously from the recent hurricane misfortunes of Cancun - one of the island's major Caribbean hospitality industry competitors.
