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Dated: 1 Janaury 2003
Apart from not hearing your favourite song, which is not really a downside,
the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues festival represented a boost for Jamaica’s tourism
product.
Up until the countdown to the festival, Jamaica’s over 35,000 rooms were seeing
significant discounting, particularly the larger resorts, which account for
over one third of the room count.
Minister of Industry and Tourism Senator Aloun N’dombet Assamba, who was at
the jazz festival, said she was pleased with the attendance. “All the hotels
are full, people are staying as far away as Ocho Rios”, she told Businessuite.
She said that in addition, the visitors were being taken on various tours, which
was good for us.
“Our tourists are safe when they come here”, she noted. She said the percentage
of crime against tourists was less than 0.01 per cent, adding, “what I really
want to tell people is that tourism is not something which is imposed on us,
it is something that is good for us, bringing in 50 per cent of the total foreign
exchange, which we earn.
In St. Lucia, some 15 - 20 per cent of visitors hear of the country through
its annual Jazz Festival, which was started some 17 years by St. Lucian Michael
Chastenet, vice president of Sales for Air Jamaica. It is believed that an equally
significant percentage of tourists return to Jamaica, after having visited the
island for the festival.
And apart for the thousands of patrons, those who know and understand the value
of the annual event, were there in full force. Digicel, along with a air balloon
and a swanky-looking booth, equipped with own jazz band, was there to entertain
its corporate clients. Marketing Director, Harry Smith, would not say how much
the company spent on the elaborate service for its clients. “We’re doing this
mainly for our corporate clients, taking the opportunity to have hospitality
for them,” Mr. Smith said, noting that they were also promoting their new up-market
handsets. He said Digicel continues to distance itself from the competition,
and keeps rolling out new products.
“We are also geting very far with our discussions on interconnection, following
a successful meeting with Cable & Wireless, so we are looking for a quick launch
of Digicel in St. Lucia and St. Vincent in the next two weeks. “We have a commercial
understanding and we think we have enough in place to go to market, he said.
He would not talk about the rates, but said the company wants to open with a
bang, as is Harry’s style. Digicel went into Christmas last year with over 600,000
subscribers, and according to him, they had a great Christmas, but would not
reveal the latest figure. Amongst the other corporate giants treating their
clients at the jazz festival were Air Jamaica, Red Stripe and NCB. Ashchar Consultants,
a sponsor of the festival was also there treating its corporate clients.
So too was the Air Jamaica and Jamaica Tourist Board Apart from the international
exposure, which in the past, the annual event has provided for Jamaican artistes
such as Shaggy, Third World, Ziggy Marley, Red Rat, Ernie Rrangling, and this
year, Monte Alexander and Courtney Pine, the concert is impacting positively
on Jamaica, which has received so much negative international publicity. “It
is good to see that mood of greater security (but) we still have a lot of matters
to address”, said Dr. Peter Phillips, Minister of National Security, commenting
on the jazz festival and the thousands of foreign visitors who attended. “It
is obvious we have a greater presence on the roads, greater visibility.
Overall, we are going to tackle the problem. we want to assure everyone that
Jamaica is a place where people can enjoy good entertainment, and people need
to come out, feel free, and have their fun”, he said, adding, “I think the more
we go out and enjoy ourselves, going about our daily activities, the more we
will be able to reverse the tide of criminality on the part of that minority
who want to create insecurity for us”, Dr. Phillips said.
Only the previous week, news of an upsurge of violence in the inner city areas
of Montego Bay, had led many persons to speculate on the encrouchment of crime
and violence the country’s tourits mecca. In particular, it was good that Air
Jamaica involved the Flankers community through a group of children from that
area school. They sang on stage to a resounding success. Perhaps, next time
the people of Flankers decide to block the roads they will think again. Flankers
is the gateway in and out of Sangster’s International Airport.
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