( L - R ) Bartlett and Assamba

Janet Silvera, Senior Tourism Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

Minister of Tourism and Entertainment, Aloun Assamba, has countered statements made by Opposition Spokesman on Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, that the island's winter tourist figures were down in comparison to January 2006.

A release from Mr. Bartlett described the much-touted current winter tourism season as "weak and off-target" for January, with February's statistics gearing up to be equally off-track.

Mr. Bartlett described the downturn as "a serious and worrying situation for the island, coming as it does in the very heart of the season."

But Ms. Assamba, who was speaking at the Sunset Jamaica Grande Resort and Spa's 'Irish Fest', launched at the Courtleigh Hotel and Suites in Kingston on Tuesday, noted that there was a marginal decline of 0.7 per cent for stopover arrivals when compared to January last. "Yes, this may look like a decline, but when we combine stopover and cruise arrivals, total visitor arrivals were up by 3.2 per cent," she told the media.

US decline

She said the island welcomed exactly 130,695 visitors in January 2006, and 124,756 during the same period this year. The month shows a decline in U.S. arrivals by 9.6 per cent.

"When we make generalisations that the figures are trending down, we have to bear in mind that 2006 was an exceptional year for several reasons, some of which have changed," the minister cautioned.

As a resort destination the island remained at the top of its game for every month of 2006, closing the year with some three million stopover and cruise visitors - unprecedented in the history of the island's tourist industry.

Hurricane in Cancun

But industry stakeholders said it was likely that some of that business resulted from the devastating hurricane that ravaged Cancun, Mexico, in 2005, causing tour operators and travel agents to divert their business to Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.

With Cancun back, up and running, and a more favourable-than-expected winter in the United States, the island is faced with several factors.

"For us January has had a lacklustre start, and we are very concerned about the decline in business which is likely to become worse with the re-entry of 55,000 Cancun rooms and a war chest of promotional activities backing them," said Evelyn Smith, area chair of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, Negril Chapter.

She said tha 2006 was a record-breaking year for Jamaica, this was not the case for Negril.