Jamaica
News - Real Estate - Tourism
Source: Jamaica Gleaner, November
24, 2005
New vision for
tourism in Jamaica
A NEW Montego Bay tourism
destination company, New Vision Travel And Tours, will seek to
lure visitors to Jamaica by way of a marketing and promotions
blitz across the United States, Canada and Europe.
President and chief executive
officer of New Vision Travel, Montego Bay business executive,
Solomon Goode, announced in a statement yesterday that he would
target the key, perennially-lucrative areas of the three global
regions.
The United States supplies
roughly 71 per cent of tourists coming to Jamaica - hence New
Vision Travel's main outreach will be in that country, Mr. Goode
says.
The thrust will centre on key
areas of the densely-populated U.S. Eastern Seaboard, taking in
Boston, the tri-state region of New York, New Jersey and
Connecticut; and on down to Miami.
In the midwest, New Vision
Travel will concentrate on Detroit and Chicago, in particular. On
the Pacific west coast, California's main city, Los Angeles, will
be highlighted, although the entire state is wide open for
business, Mr. Goode points out.
Europe and Canada combine to
comprise the other 29 per cent of Jamaica's tourism. Europe -
comprising the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France and Spain,
in that order - has recently overtaken Canada as Jamaica's
second-important tourism market share, Mr. Goode reports, but
Canada remains a buoyant, strong supplier.
DIALOGUE
New Vision Travel will work closely with international tour
operators, wholesalers, travel agents and group incentive houses,
many of whose executives have been in close dialogue with Mr.
Goode. Locally, the new company will interface with Jamaica's
ground tour operators, as it moves to provide such hospitality
industry facilities as accommodation, ground transportation,
airport transfers and tours across the island.
The company plans to come on
stream during the upcoming winter tourism season, which starts on
December 15 - and Mr. Goode predicts it will be what he describes
as "an overall good season" for the island.
He based his forecast on
overseas industry analyses, and said Jamaica should benefit
tremendously from the recent hurricane misfortunes of Cancun - one
of the island's major Caribbean hospitality industry competitors
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