Fri | Mar 29, 2024

Step in the right direction

Kingston hoteliers applaud easing of COVID restrictions for travellers

Published:Wednesday | February 23, 2022 | 4:54 AMJanet Silvera - Senior Gleaner Writer
Prime Minister Andrew Holness
Prime Minister Andrew Holness

Kingston hoteliers are anticipating an increase in business and leisure travellers with the abolition of mandatory quarantine as well as an end to the JAMCOVID travel authorisation.

The change becomes effective March 1, Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced during a press briefing yesterday evening, in addition to other easing of the COVID-19 containment measures.

The additional challenge Kingston travellers faced included a mandatory PCR test on arrival, and this too will be eliminated.

“This will reduce the burden for not only business and leisure travellers, but also visiting friends and relatives who are coming into Kingston. It is a welcome change; we continue to maintain our on-property protocols and everything else to keep us safe. But definitely it will give the hotels in Kingston the ability to see better numbers,” director of marketing and sales, Nicola Madden-Greig, Hendrickson Group of Companies, told The Gleaner.

Madden-Greig, who is also president of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), has responsibility for The Jamaica Pegasus, Courtleigh Hotel and Suites and The Knutsford Court Hotel.

She admitted that the mandatory quarantine was a deterrent to doing business in the capital city, particularly among business travellers, who were saddled with the requirements. The change, she noted, will allow for more opening up of the market, especially the multinational companies that would not authorise travel for their associates based on certain criteria.

The Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) has also applauded the move.

“Removal of these restrictions is a step in the right direction, especially for business travellers who can now come into the island to do business for as long as it takes, without fear of testing out of quarantine. Returning residents will also be happy that they will not have to incur additional costs of PCR testing, so this will be encouraging news for them too,” noted Clifton Reader, president of the JHTA.

Kingston is home to just under 2,000 hotel rooms, and before COVID-19, the city was experiencing an uptick in leisure business, and the somewhat return to normal is something hotelier Christopher Issa has been fighting for.

The owner and operator of the Spanish Court in Kingston described the announcement as positive and will help visitors to the island. Issa is particularly pleased with the fact that visitors will no longer be required to fill out the forms for JAMCOVID authorisation.

COVID STILL HERE

Pre-testing will be maintained, said Holness, with persons coming into the island required to take either a PCR or antigen test in order to enter.

“We are aware that obtaining pre-tests is becoming more difficult and expensive in some jurisdictions, and are therefore reviewing whether or not we should maintain this requirement or modified concurrent with the removal of the travel authorisation,” he revealed.

With the positivity rate now below five per cent, the prime minister said he was strongly recommending and encouraging persons to limit their movements for at least five days after returning from travel.

“In particular, I urge persons who have travelled to distance themselves from those who are most at risk, particularly those with comorbidities,” he said.

Isolation requirements also remain in effect for persons who test positive for COVID-19, in order for them not to infect others.

Warning the country that COVID-19 was not over, Holness said the wearing of masks, sanitising of hands and social distancing remain a part of the lives of the citizens.

With schools set to reopen fully and the return to face-to-face learning after the midterm holidays, the containment protocols, he said, were even more critical to prevent a resurgence of the virus.

With only 23 per cent of the Jamaican population now fully vaccinated, the country is being urged to capitalise on the 1.4 million doses of vaccines in stock across the island.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com

New measures under the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA)

• Curfew hours now starts at midnight and ends at 5 a.m. (From February 25 to March 17)

• Attendance at funerals and burials up from 20 to 100

• Maximum attendees at public sector events move from 50 to 100

• Travel authorisation through JAMCOVID no longer a requirement as at March 1

• Travel-related quarantine requirements removed