Visas, Air Service Hindering Chinese Tourists to Jamaica

The issues of visa restrictions and lack of direct air services are among the obstacles the Chinese say are hindering Jamaica from gaining a foothold in its emerging tourist market.

"Jamaica and the Caribbean have to resolve direct flights, because as it now stands, the Chinese have to either fly to Canada, USA and Mexico to get here," says Li Hong, director of tourism of the Hangzhou Tourism Commission in China.

Hong, who departed the island on Sunday for Cuba, after making a fact-finding two-day mission in Jamaica, added that although distance was also an issue, the idea of experiencing the Caribbean Sea sounds magical to the Chinese.

Hong was on island with a delegation of 35 Chinese visitors, including deputy mayor of Hangzhou, Zhang Jianting, seven travel agents, business operators and prospective investors.

"They (our people) are familiar with the Pacific, the Atlantic and even the Indian Ocean, the Caribbean remains a mystique," asserted the tourism official during an interview with The Gleaner in Kingston last Saturday.

He said Jamaica can leverage the fact that it is the most beautiful island in the region to Chinese, who are now the number-one source market for tourism worldwide.

His comments come in the wake of recent figures released by the UN World Tourism Organization, stating that China's expenditure on travel abroad reached US$102 billion in 2012, making it the first tourism source market in the world in terms of spending.

Boosted by an appreciating Chinese currency, this represents a whopping 40 per cent jump from 2011 when it amounted to US$73 billion. China remains the fastest-growing tourism market.

According to Hong, one of the first steps in getting the Chinese to Jamaica is to have them in groups, "Only group tours are possible," he explained, noting that language would not serve as a barrier, as they would come with their own tour guides.

Over the last decade, 11,104 visitors came from the Republic of China to Jamaica and last year the country welcomed 2,102, representing a 23 per cent growth.

The group met with minister of state in the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment, Damion Crawford, on Saturday. "The Government of Jamaica recently established an embassy in Beijing and is working on immigration legislation to make it much easier for entry into Jamaica," assured the minister in his presentation.

Pointing out that China and Jamaica had enjoyed a long and ever-strengthening relationship, Crawford said this relationship was further strengthened in 2007 when the cities of Montego Bay and Hangzhou entered into a formal sister city agreement.

The delegation visited the popular Dunn's River Falls, the Montego Bay Convention Centre and Strawberry Hills, among a number of other attractions while on the island.

Source: The Jamaica Gleaner