By Janet Silvera, Freelance Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
JAMAICA HAS been voted the number five spring break destination by the Travel Channel, one of the most influential North American TV stations owned by the Discovery network.
However, the rating which put Jamaica on top of the 700 islands of the Bahamas, Rosarito Beach, Ensenada and Mazatlan both in Mexico, Key West, and Daytona Beach, Florida, has not pleased the head of the Chamber of Commerce in Negril.
The tourist resort of Negril hosts the majority of the hordes of North American students who flock the island during the months of February and March each year to party.
"It would be better if spring break did not come back here; the majority of small businesses are not benefiting. spring break has driven away our genuine guests who used to come in February and March and spend real money here. They have stopped coming because they can't take the lewdness that goes on when they come," said Cliff Reynolds, president of the Chamber.
But the Chamber president who operates Three C's pastries, a 24-hour pastry shop on the West End of the resort, has been criticised for the statement.
"It's hurtful, it makes us wonder how welcome we are. He has one hand taking our money at his patty shop and on the other hand he is saying something else," said Chris Walsh, director of operations at Sunsplash Tours.
Sunsplash is a major spring break tour operator which brings in some 10,000 students each year.
Mr. Walsh said that the growth in business in Negril would be retarded if Mr. Reynolds kept making "uneducated and ignorant statements."
Jamaica faces stiff competition from Panama City, which tops the list of spring break destinations. Cancun, Mexico the island's greatest rival where adult visitors are concerned; Padre Island, Texas, Lake Havasu and Arizona are the others.
"Jamaica is number one if you are basing it on a beautiful cultural experience; number four if it has to compete with cheaper destinations such as Panama City where you drive down and sleep in your car, eat macaroni and cheese and drink bad cheap beer out of a can. I really don't call that spring break," said Mr. Walsh.
Describing Mr. Reynolds' statements as petty, he said the Chamber president was part of the old boy network and was pandering to the small group.
Hotelier and watersports operator, Jean Gaynair, shares Mr. Walsh's sentiments.
Denouncing similar statements by hotelier, Sylvia Grizzle, who also complained that the spring breakers were crippling her business, Mrs. Gaynair said her experience was quite the opposite.
"The information my associates are giving is misleading, irresponsible and outrageous. The jerk chicken man is busy, the taxis, bike rentals, entertainment complexes, and even the sign painters are making more signs than normal," she said.
In the meantime, the rating elates other hoteliers, some of whom are experiencing the best of the winter season since the arrival of the knapsack-slinging students.
"We are doing pretty well and a lot of hotels would not like to lose the spring break business, my property is actually full," said Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association president, Carolyn Wright.
Over 75 small and medium sized properties are benefiting from the students business, with several running between 70-100 per cent occupancy levels for the month of March.
And even though most of the students have opted to stay at properties on the Beach Road, a number of West End hotels that are just recovering from the sewerage project, are also reporting good business.
