Tourism eager for shot in the arm
Published:Friday | March 12, 2021 | 12:07 AMJanet Silvera/Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
As Jamaica rolled out its coronavirus vaccine programme on Wednesday, tourism stakeholders are jostling to be get at the front of the line for the second phase scheduled to commence in July.
That assertion, by Clifton Reader, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), comes one day after the country’s finance minister, Dr Nigel Clarke, projected the scale of fallout in foreign-exchange earnings to be US$2.5 billion for 2020-2021.
The JHTA president said that May would be the ideal time for the inoculation of tourism workers.
The vaccination of tourism and transportation workers would be critical to the revival of the sector and to rebuild international confidence in the hospitality industry.
On Wednesday, Jamaica commenced vaccination of healthcare workers and the elderly from the 50,000 vaccines gifted by the Indian government.
FAR LESS EARNINGS
Projected tourism earnings for 2020-21 have been put at US$874 million, about a quarter of the US$3.4 billion revenue take for 2019-2020.
“The bad news is that COVID-19 has cost us dearly – loss of life, loss of earnings and income. ... The good news is that we are still here, doing everything we can to stay the course of this pandemic,” said Reader.
In the meantime, 53 per cent of hotel room stock remains closed since the country imposed coronavirus containment measures in March 2020 and some entities have reported not receiving government stimulus payouts.
Some of the stakeholders, including car-rental companies, revealed they got only one drawdown of $18,000 per employee and are owed for up to seven months, while others have been paid the full amount.
Others reported that they have not been able to access the $1.2-billion EXIM Bank stimulus, which allows each applicant to collect up to $5 million.
Reservations have plummeted by 81 per cent over the last 12 months, Orville Spence of Sixt Rent A Car told The Gleaner.
He said his inventory value has depreciated by 20 per cent, but payables, such as insurance, taxes, licences fees, vehicle examination fees, rent, have remained constant.
Spence, who is also vice-president of the Rent A Car Association of Jamaica, said there are still a significant numbers of its membership awaiting disbursements since April last year.