Ja: Relatively safe for tourism

WITH TERRORISM fears scaring visitors away from a number of European and Asian destinations, Jamaica has been the beneficiary of an extraordinary tourism boom, industry players say.

They point to last month alone when more than 124,000 stopover visitors descended on the nation's shores, an almost 18 per cent increase over the same period last year.

Josef Forstmayr, general manager of the Round Hill hotel in Hanover, in describing the month of April as "the best ever", attributed the boom to "aggressive marketing by the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), and the worldwide geo-political environment."

RELATIVELY SAFE DESTINATION

In addition, he said Jamaica was increasingly being viewed as a relatively safe destination by overseas travellers.

"Tourists are now concerned about personal safety like terrorist threats," Mr. Forstmayr said. "Our American visitors are not focusing on a perceived threat... harassment."

This is good news for Jamaica. However, Jamaicans cannot afford to be smug about their perceived security. All they need to do is look south TT, Guyana, the Muslim Triangle) and north (the U.S., Canada, Mexico) and take firm measures to ensure that tourists can continue to relax safely on Jamaican beaches.