The region is facing three major imperatives: the rebuilding process after the recent hurricane season; the pressing infrastructure needs in preparation for the Cricket World Cup 2007 and, finally, the need for tourism capacity expansion to support tourism growth. What are your expectations in terms of tourism growth, and how are you preparing for it?

There are two sides to our strategy: one is to increase the number of visitor arrivals and the other is the expansion of room stock.

The Tourism Master Plan for Development is guiding our tourism growth, with projections to build our hospitality industry from 24,000 rooms to a total of 35,000 rooms by 2010. While we are increasing room stock, we are also working to increase occupancy. Our goal is to increase tourism arrivals by 7% per year, thereby building gradually on the 1.3 million stop-over arrivals per year in Jamaica.

While we increase our room stock and increase occupancy, we will also strive to increase spending per tourist. There are two ways of doing that: improving the product and diversifying the offer. If our product is better, we believe that tourists will be ready to pay more for it. We also believe that a greater selection of activities and attractions will have exponential repercussions. Through a package of incentives, we are encouraging the creation of adventure, shopping, horse-back riding and golfing activities, for example.

At the same time, we are improving the island’s infrastructure. We have recently finished a highway to Montego Bay and our airport will be upgraded with a new terminal building – all within an environmentally sustainable program that is part of our long-term strategic plan.

Essentially, we have set clear goals and we are working to achieve them.

With 72% of your tourists coming from the United States, will they be your focus?

It is true that we have a strong dependence on U.S. tourists, and in fact 60% of those American tourists are concentrated in the north-eastern region, particularly in New York.

We recognize this as a strength and a weakness. There is a saying that says: “It is better to fish where the fishes are.” So if we launch a promotional campaign in the U.S., we have a better chance that our arrival figures will increase right away. Yet we also want to diversify our tourism base and appeal to European and Latin American markets.

We are very active in Europe – which represents 16% of stop-over arrivals and grew by 22% last year. Although the numbers are still small, we feel that it is a promising market. For one thing, European tourists stay longer and move around more. And Jamaica has a very strong image in Europe – it represents fun, adventure and excellent hospitality. Personalities like Bob Marley and the Jamaican Bobsled Team have branded a very distinctive image of Jamaica, making it the preferred destination of the Caribbean.

How are you building on that momentum?

A key factor is air access, and we are attempting to open it up. There are a number of airlines and charters arriving to Jamaica from Europe, and we are aware that the airlift rate is directly proportional to your arrival rates. Our efforts will therefore be to increase the amount of partnerships with airlines to increase arrivals to Jamaica.

What is the main strength of Jamaican tourism?

Our strength is that people keep coming back. We have a 40% repeat rate, which is reflected in our slogan: “Once you go, you know”.

Tourism is the biggest foreign earner for the country, representing a pillar of the economy. How are you dealing with the pressure to succeed?

You might remember the situation in 2001: we went into a depression and did our best to deal with the crisis. Out of every bad situation comes some good: we restructured our organisations, we increased our efficiencies and doubled our output. The result is that our economy has grown and our tourism arrivals are increasing each year compared to last year and the year before.

Room rates have also increased, leading to greater profitability for our hotels and increased cash flow – which has allowed them to renovate and refurbish their installations. In fact, the recent hurricane season has actually helped many hotels to rebuild and modernise, thanks to various support programs put in place. It was a difficult time but we are looking at it in a positive manner.

We are very optimistic. The resilience and optimism of the Jamaican people is truly our greatest strength.

We look forward to coming to Jamaica for the World Cup in 2007…

It is going to be a great party – don’t miss it!