Bartlett: Highways major boost for air travel

The ongoing road infra-structure improvements taking place across the island are already having a positive multiplier effect on tourism bookings for the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA), with the capital city Kingston now gaining in attraction as a destination for business travellers especially, according to Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett.

On Tuesday, he told an appreciation breakfast hosted by the Jamaica Tourist Board for members of the airline industry at the transportation section of the airport that as of December 18, some 697,000 passengers had come through its gates, 382,000 of whom were tourists, with the others split between members of the diaspora, business traveller and Jamaicans.

This, according to the tourism minister, was due in large measure to the significant reduction in travel time along the island’s roadways.

“The highway from here to Ocho Rios (St Ann) has made a big difference. It’s now an hour, hour and a half to Ocho Rios with a scenic view, fantastic road and very pleasant surroundings. So we are seeing now that with the new highway that is being built – the south-east corridor from Harbour View (St Andrew) to Port Antonio (Portland), that’s going to allow again for transit within an hour and a half from Norman Manley International Airport,” he told airport staffers.

For this reason the NMIA is poised to received significantly more visitors, especially with the new Morant Bay town centre in St Thomas set to come on stream, effectively opening up the parish for new investments in attractions, businesses, resorts and other activities, according to Bartlett.

“So the Kingston airport is going to grow and expand, dealing with three areas of prospects for resorts and touristic development. The east in terms of St Thomas and Portland and then the west in terms of going now to south coast to take you into Clarendon, St Catherine, promoting all the facilities that are touristic. Then all the way into Mandeville and with some luck even St Elizabeth and that highway under construction is an extension of what I call the south-western corridor that is taking you from Mandela all the way to Negril.”

Bartlett explained that the upshot of the Government road improvement project is to ensure that from any point in Jamaica, one can reach either Norman Manley or the Sangster International airport by driving, with an hour and a half and two hours at the most.

“That will make us be able, not only to be accessible in a seamless way but to really make us an alluring and exciting destination for visitors coming from far distances ... long haul. People who are coming from nine hours, 15 hours of flying, knowing that when they land here they won’t have to be commuting for two hours and more in order to get to their hotel and get on to the beach and to enjoy themselves,” the tourism minister explained.

Meanwhile, Commercial Manager for PAC Kingston Airport Limited Kaydian Dawes Wynter copped the Chairman’s Award for her contribution to the tourism product, with workers from all the sectors of the airport community being also recognised. These include the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency, Jamaica Customs Agency, Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Red Cap Porters Association.