WESTERN BUREAU:

ALREADY CHALLENGED by a slashed budget, the Ministry of Tourism will have to pump more money into an additional marketing programme geared at combatting any damage which the attempted hijacking of CanJet Flight 918 may have caused.

Last Sunday, some 160 passengers and crew were held hostage by accused attempted hijacker, Stephen Fray, who demanded to be taken to America.

Fray reportedly placed a dent in airport security, before brandishing a gun and boarding the Canadian chartered aircraft which was destined for Halifax, Canada.

Saturation of market

The incident has forced Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett to announce an immediate saturation of the market with advertising and public-relations measures set to target Canadian tour operators, airline partners, the diaspora and trade media.

The unplanned programme is expected to cut into a 2009-2010 Budget, which is already below par. The tourism budget has been reduced by 50 per cent - from $1.5 billion to $800 million.

But the proactive minister, who remains uncertain about the figure that would be needed for the extra programme, is not about to sit and wait on the assessments that are to be placed on his desk.

Instead, he told guests at the Tourism Excellence Awards at the Ritz-Carlton Rose Hall, on Friday night, that, come May 22, his Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) team would take to the road, advertising and promoting Brand Jamaica in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Not aware of fallout

"We plan to saturate sections of Canada and other key markets in the US and the UK, meeting with tour operators, airline partners, the diaspora and the trade media," Minister Bartlett told The Sunday Gleaner in an interview yesterday morning.

Admitting that he was not aware of any major fallout in tour-operator bookings from a Canadian market that has become Jamaica's saving grace, he said the response had been much better than was anticipated.

"Generally, there has been a sense of understanding and the intervention of both prime ministers - Stephen Harper of Canada and our own Bruce Golding - has helped tremendously."

Janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com