EDITOR’S NOTE: Following from our last newsletter which featuring hospitality developments in the Caribbean, where the majority of developments mentioned were in Jamaica. #IslandsCaribbean features Jamaica in this newsletter. As can be expected, the COVID-19 pandemic is a key concern and its associated economic fallout.
Our headline, taken from the Jamaica Observer, is titled “JHTA says local staycations up 22-27 per cent as demand grows amid COVID-19”. The Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) advises that reduced visitor arrivals is being compensated to some degree by a nearly three-fold increase in local patronage, ironically due to the very same travel restrictions.
The second article taken from the Jamaica Observer, titled “Tourism projected to earn US$1.87 billion for 2021/22”, outlines the political response to the economic fallout. It relies heavily on ongoing vaccinations in its key markets of the U.S.A. and Britain, but also proposes development of Jamaica’s South Coast as another tourist attraction.
The only new development mentioned in this newsletter is that of the government’s Urban Development Corporation, which recently opened its “Harmony Beach Park” in Montego Bay. Nevertheless, we conclude with a plea for more investment in Jamaica’s coastal ecosystem by Professor Mona Webber — Director of the Centre for Marine Sciences at the University of the West Indies.
IslandsCaribbean Weekday ed. 2021-03-23
