WESTERN BUREAU:

AS MANY OF the island's hoteliers reel under the global economic turmoil, plans are afoot to roll out national and spot television advertising in the United States and Canada. This is one of a number of promotional initiatives aimed at cauterising projections of a 30 per cent decline in tourist arrivals for the winter tourist season, which starts tomorrow.

The US$3 million promotional programme includes extensive taxi-cab branding in New York City and the erection of massive billboards at the Port Authority in Manhattan, a major transit point for commuters, as well as promotional thrusts in major regions of the United States, highly placed tourism officials have told The Sunday Gleaner.

"Jamaica will be taking over the Port Authority in terms of massive billboard advertising because that area already has the traffic in terms of six million people seeing the brand daily," said the source, who added that in the case of the New York taxis, a significant number will don Destination Jamaica outfits, "so they can't be missed".

JTB think tank

These initiatives were discussed during a think tank at the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) and the Ministry of Tourism's marketing retreat last week in Montego Bay, The Sunday Gleaner has been reliably informed.

The effort is intended to capture all possible winter business and last-minute bookings, and with New York being the most important gateway in the equation, that region will be the focal point of Jamaica's promotional drive. Accordingly, the JTB will partner with tour operators, airlines and retailers, including Travelocity, Travel Impressions, Sunquest and Thomas Cook.

Tour operators outline the prospects

The initiatives come at a time when many of the major players have concluded that vacationers during this time of uncertainty are looking for "value for money".

"Jamaica is a bit of a shining star for Sunquest, Fun Sun and Holiday House at this time, and will fare fine for us because we will implement promotions to ensure our planes are full," Sunquest Vacations' Wayne Nosworthy assured The Sunday Gleaner.

Boasting a total of 15 charter flights per week from Canadian cities to Montego Bay, Nosworthy, a long-time friend of the island, said group business was the number one reason why his organisation was ahead of its competitors.

He noted that the prevailing conditions favoured mass-market business, and suggested that some Jamaican hotels were likely to fold under the current economic climate.

Jamaica progressing

Another tour operator, Sara Fried, market manager for Travelocity Caribbean, said Jamaica was progressing as a result of many great products that had entered the market with "terrific rates, attracting a lot of promotions".

She added that the Spanish hotels, Sandals and Beaches were the ones driving the promotions aggressively.

"Everybody has to do some type of promotion right now to bring the business in, because people are looking for deals," she said.

In the case of United States-based MLT Vacations, which says Jamaica is their largest destination in the region, the pace of forward bookings is relatively flat.

"Value is the key. I think they are going to travel," was the positive outlook from Mark Photiades of MLT Vacations. He pointed out that Jamaica has developed a new breed of hotels that have been perfectly timed to deal with the economic times.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com