Western Bureau: Four years after being courted by the St Vincent and the Grenadines government, Sandals Resorts International (SRI) will operate its first Beaches Resorts in that island, having acquired the former five-star Buccament Bay Spa Resort...
WESTERN BUREAU: Weeks after Jamaica reopened its borders to travel markets, tourism interests argued on Tuesday that strained cash flow threatened to send some hotels into bankruptcy amid the looming prospect of mass redundancy payouts. Glenn...
WESTERN BUREAU: The Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) says that it will “not be advocating” for the closure of Jamaica’s borders to travellers from the United States. Instead, the tourism stakeholder group has called for the ramping up...
WESTERN BUREAU: Heinz Simonitsch, the man credited with positioning the pairing of luxury resorts with environmental sustainability, has died. The Austria-born hotelier, who was responsible for significant growth and recognition of Montego Bay’s...
WESTERN BUREAU: Hotels and other industry operators that fail to comply with health and safety protocols designed to facilitate the phased reopening of the tourism sector will be shut down, says portfolio Minister Edmund Bartlett. The minister...
WESTERN BUREAU: Just under six weeks after the north coast reopened to overseas visitors, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has announced a second phase of the Resilient Corridor that spans Jamaica’s south coast. Bartlett, who made the announcement...
WESTERN BUREAU: One of Jamaica’s quaintest boutique properties, Tensing Pen, has been ranked 16th among the top 100 hotels in the world by readers of one of the sphere’s leading travel magazines, the influential Travel + Leisure. The Negril resort...
WESTERN BUREAU: A health and safety protocol is being developed for Jamaica’s south coast as that section of the island anxiously awaits phase two of the reopening of the tourism sector, which was shuttered due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While no...
WESTERN BUREAU: Tourism stakeholders on the island’s south coast are sitting in limbo, a week after a June 30 deadline for the Government to announce the second phase of reopening plans for the sector. The situation has left them unsure of when...
WESTERN BUREAU: Jamaican nationals who are permanent residents of the states of New York, Florida, Texas, and Arizona who want to travel home will be barred from returning if they do not have proof of testing negative for COVID-19. Chief Medical...
WESTERN BUREAU: Visitors from the high-risk American states of Florida, New York, Arizona, and Texas are now required to pretest for the new coronavirus before travelling to Jamaica, says Prime Minister Andrew Holness. Combined, the four states...
WESTERN BUREAU: Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has urged Jamaica’s hotel staff and other hospitality stakeholders not to lose their good-naturedness in trying to mitigate against the spread of COVID-19. The minister’s comments came during his...
WESTERN BUREAU: The man who played a key role in Andrew Holness’ internal leadership victory over Audley Shaw, as well as marshalling the machinery in the St Ann North East constituency for the last 20 years, is being tipped to replace Shahine...
WESTERN BUREAU: A ST MARY woman who arrived on a Delta Airlines flight from Atlanta Tuesday afternoon collapsed and died in the immigration hall at the Sangster International Airport, one day after the island reopened its borders to the tourism sector....
WESTERN BUREAU: TOURISM MINISTER Edmund Bartlett said that Monday’s “soft reopening” of the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay was a silver lining for workers at that gateway after a near-three-month layoff. Bartlett was addressing...
WESTERN BUREAU: MORE THAN 40 American Airlines pilots were born in Jamaica, and of that lot, two of them were responsible for steering the first flight of 126 passengers to the island on Monday as the island reopened its tourism sector. Captain...
WESTERN BUREAU: Days after coming under pressure from medical professionals about COVID-19 protocols for visitors, the Government said yesterday that all arriving tourists will be tested for the new coronavirus as of June 15. Officials confirmed...
WESTERN BUREAU: MORE THAN a month after COVID-19 forced the closure of its 18 stores islandwide, temporarily claiming the livelihood of some 900 workers, fast-food giant Mother’s has reopened all its retail outlets throughout the country. In...
WESTERN BUREAU: Even as Jamaica presses ahead with the reopening of the island to tourists on June 15, most of the industry’s workers are viewing the decision with concern, an islandwide Tourism Worker Sentiment Survey has shown. The Ministry of...
WESTERN BUREAU: In light of misgivings being expressed nationally about the widescale opening of Jamaica to overseas visitors, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has asserted that the industry’s corridors will be split to accommodate the island’s...
WESTERN BUREAU: Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says the loss of direct tourism revenue to the Government owing to COVID-19 for April 2020 to March 2021 has been estimated at 38.4 billion, a severe blow to the island’s economy. According to...
WESTERN BUREAU: There will be no pretesting or quarantining of visitors to Jamaica when the island reopens its borders for international travel on Monday, June 15. Jamaica closed its borders on March 24 to flatten the curve of the coronavirus...
WESTERN BUREAU: REELING FROM losses of between US$3.5 and $4 million per month, Jamaican car-rental operators are appealing to the Government for a host of concessions to pull themselves from the devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The...
WESTERN BUREAU: THE 200 Jamaicans who arrived via air from New York and Fort Lauderdale on May 13 are accusing the Government of giving preferential treatment to the 1,044 Adventure of the Seas cruise ship workers who have already been processed a...
WESTERN BUREAU: Pitching a working timeline of four to six weeks for the reopening of the tourism industry, the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) says it fully supports the pretesting of guests. The group also backs the wearing of masks...
