Huracán golpeó duro al turismo en Jamaica – Chicago Tribune

By JOHN MYERS, JR.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica (AP) — It’s a month to the start of Jamaica’s peak tourist season and the nation’s officials are busy rebuilding after Hurricane Melissa’s catastrophic strike.

Before the Huracán began on October 28, the government hoped that Jamaica’s tourism industry would gain 7% during the winter period and prepare to receive a total of 4.3 million visitors.

Now, officials are scrambling to repair hotels and clean up suits in the island’s western region with hopes of securing tourist dollars when they are needed most.

“We are doing assessments today, but most of the misfortune is in the northeast and southeast,” said Christopher Jarrett, director of the Jamaica Hotels and Tourism Association.

The popular Negril area of ​​Westmoreland has been reported to have saved many days.

All international airports in Jamaica have been opened and are receiving commercial flights. But perhaps a week after one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record headed toward Jamaica’s far west, tourism officials are now scrambling to get a real picture of the danger in the area, a mainstay of the island’s economy.

Jarrett said the lobbying group that represents hotels and private businesses on the island cannot communicate with many of its members, particularly in western Hanover Parish, because it is in charge of communications and electricity services.

“Cada miembro afectado está haciendo all that is possible to return to operation”, expressed.

In recent days, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett signaled that he hoped Jamaica’s tourism sector would return to normal by December 15, the start of the island’s high-temperature tourism season.

“It’s possible for some and not for others,” Jarrett said of the timeline indicating that larger hotel chains could recover more quickly.

Jarrett, who operates the Altamont Court Hotel, was familiar with his properties in Kingston and Montego Bay, while only one property in Montego Bay suffered technician damage and repairs were underway.

Due to the disruption of a major tourism sector, Jarrett estimated that the economic impacts would not be very severe. Be sure many hotels in the capital, Kingston, and the city of Ocho Ríos are trading with America’s abundance of aid workers and volunteers.

“At this time we are offering services, between 25% and 50%, and some (hotels) are also offering free rooms,” Jarrett commented.

Tourism is the main source of revenue for Jamaica’s divisions, contributing 30% to GDP directly and indirectly. It employs a total of 175,000 people and is an important economic driver for other sectors of the Jamaican economy, such as construction, banking and finance, utilities and agriculture.

The disruption to the tourism sector also affects many suppliers of goods and services.

“With some hotels nearby and with the fault of tourists, many of our people have been working without work. This not only torments the destruction of buildings; destroys jobs and investments for many of our people and our families,” said Patricia Mighten, who worked in the western parish of Hanover as one of the hotel girls.

Desrine Smith, an artisan seller who operates in the tourist town of Falmouth and the historic parish of Trelawny, echoed these sentiments.

“Pasar días sin turistas que vengan a comprar significa no tener ventas y no tener dinero. Sobrevivimos con los ingresos diarios, y ahora todo es incierto”, expressed. “The Huracan has hit our balls furtemente”.

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This story was translated into English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.