In much the same way that, first, Trinidad and Tobago, then Guyana, have attracted regional attention for the good fortune that the two have encountered on account of their respective ‘oil finds’ and their efforts to use oil in pursuit of greener pastures than had been afforded them, previously, earlier, so too has Jamaica sought to use its God -given attractions to carve out a tourism industry the quality of which have literally made its way across the world. Mind you, setting aside the ‘natural resource’ that tourism represents, Jamaica has also made a name for itself through the island’s highly-publicized accomplishments in agriculture and agro-processing as well as its enviable success in marketing Jamaica to the world, through JAMPRO but mostly through the global ‘pandemic effect’ of its Reggae music.
In these respects, Jamaica has carved out its own distinctive niche in the broader tapestry in what the world has come to recognize and to acknowledge as the Caribbean.
Jamaica’s tourism and hospitality sector has, over the years, continued to accumulate global plaudits, the most recent one coming from the world-renowned Playa Hotels which, days ago, announced that it had ‘racked up’ its highest ever second quarter earnings occupancy for its Jamaican resorts in its history.
The Dutch-owned entity which also has hospitality interests in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, has showered praises on Jamaica for shrugging off the ‘battering’ which the island’s tourism sector had endured on account of the covid-19 pandemic to put its high demand visitor hospitality market ‘back on track’ as what a report describes as “the lynchpin for its highest owned-resort EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) of US$83.1 million during the second quarter,”, according to an August 9 Jamaica Observer Report by the newspaper’s Business Writer David Rose.
The Dutch-based hospitality firm, which operates in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, saw total occupancy across its portfolio of 73.5 per cent, with the Jamaican market seeing the highest Q2 occupancy in its history of 82.4 per cent.
The report asserts that the fundamental strengthening of the company’s position in the hospitality market “was led by performance in our Jamaican segment, as the segment reported record second quarter occupancy and year over year ADR [average daily rate] gains of 26 per cent.’
The Dutch company reported that during the period under review “net revenue for Jamaica across its five north coast properties grew 31 per cent to US$57.42 million.
