Bartlett: Level 3 advisory sparks cancellations

TOURISM MINISTER Ed Bartlett has acknowledged that the Level 3 advisory placed against Jamaica by the United States’ Department of State has resulted in some tourism cancellations. Nonetheless, Bartlett pointed out that the industry still grew by eight per cent over the same period last year.

“We have seen some cancellations because of the advisory, but these are mainly groups and government-related travellers,” he said.

Bartlett acknowledged that if the travel advisory had not been issued, the growth in Jamaica’s tourism sector would have been more than eight per cent.

“There has been skittishness in the market but no major cancellations,” he said, noting that the advisory has caused large groups to change plans of travelling to the island and has also affected insurance.

However, Bartlett said that the Government is monitoring the situation as most of the groups that have expressed a reluctance to travel to Jamaica are mainly government-related.

He noted that a meeting among American mayors that was scheduled for Kingston was postponed, and he did not know if the meeting would still take place here.

Meanwhile, it was shared that an education conference is slated for Jamaica next month, and due to the Level Three travel advisory, organisers have to be reassuring participants that it is very safe to travel to Jamaica.

A spokesman for the group said that they are expecting some 500 teachers and educators to attend the conference.

“We have been reassuring participants that it is very safe to visit Jamaica,” said the spokesperson.

NOT A TRUE REFLECTION

Bartlett believes that the advisory does not give a true reflection of what is happening on the ground in Jamaica.

“We are working behind the scenes on this issue, but we don’t want to anger the powers that be,” he said.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, chairman of Sandals Group Adam Stewart, and Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States, Audrey Marks, have also been pushing back on the decision by the US State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs to designate Jamaica at Level 3 in its travel advisory.

The Level Three travel advisory warning US visitors to reconsider travelling to Jamaica painted a picture of Jamaica being a country where violent crimes are rampant, sexual assault against tourists occurs frequently, and the country’s healthcare infrastructure leaves much to be desired.

Holness was quoted as saying that for the past five years, serious crimes against the three million annual US visitors had held steady at 0.01 per cent, far below the serious- crime rates in many of the home towns where US visitors live.

Stewart told Travel Weekly that “three million Americans travelling to Jamaica last year and 52 crimes reported. This advisory came out of left field.”

Stewart acknowledged that rebookings to other destinations as well as cancellations spiked to 45 per cent after the warning came out. However, he said that that is already subsiding.

Stewart noted that travel advisers have saved a lot of bookings, and it is the dot-com customers who have been spooked by the advisory.

editorial@gleanerjm.com