Cancun's business coming to Ja

Janet Silvera, Hospitality Jamaica Coordinator

HURRICANE WILMA'S devastation of 96 per cent of Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Cozumel, Mexico has resulted in increase business for Jamaica's tourist industry.

Jamaica and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic have become beneficiaries of the displaced business in kick-starting the prospects for an early winter tourist season and giving an extra hump to the latter part of the fall which was bad.

"We are getting calls from tour operators asking for increase in allotment," Carol Reid, director of sales at Sunset Beach Resort and Spa, Montego Bay confirmed to Hospitality Jamaica.

She said the resort's pace had slowed for November, but the increase in pick-ups is a sure indication of Cancun's business relocating to Jamaica.

Chicago-based Apple Vacations, one of the largest wholesalers in North America, has been forced to put on extra flights to the destination in order to supply the demand.

"We have put in an additional Sunday charter flight out of Chicago, a Monday flight out of Detroit and will literally be sold out between now and the end of the month," Neville Malcolm, the organisation's destination manager told Hospitality Jamaica.

He said because of the tremendous amount of persons booked on their scheduled flights they have had to re-route some of the business to Spirit, Continental, U.S. Airways and Air Jamaica.

The hotels getting the majority of the windfall are the Spanish-owned Riu, which are reportedly completely booked. "The spillover is being sent to Riu Ocho Rios," said Mr. Malcolm.

The Couples chain is also feeling the boom; however, group director of the resort, Gary Stephens, said he could not confirm that he was getting the unexpected business from Cancun.

"We can only presume that this has resulted from the relocation of the Mexican guests to Jamaica," he admitted. "What I can safely say is that we are witnessing an early winter tourist season, the figures look great and we are happy."

In the meantime, at least one major local destination management company is reporting increase in numbers from incentive houses based in the Midwest, Texas and Canada. Groups numbering between 120 and 700 are being booked for as far as 2007.

"Some of the groups are expected as early as next week," a source told this publication.

Reports of the damage to Cancun state that 96 per cent of the street lights were broken, 85 per cent of the green acre totalled, 100 per cent of road signals destroyed, roads, water treatment plants and drain pipes are all out of use.

The Federal Electricity Commission reports that over 10,000 lamp posts and 200 electric towers were knocked down by the hurricane.