Port Authority of Jamaica wins World Travel Award
Montego Bay, November 13, 2005
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William Tatham, Vice President, Cruise and Marina Operations and Rosalie Donaldson, Senior Vice President of International Marketing accept the award for the Caribbean's Leading Cruise Destination from Miss Asia at the World Travel Awards. |
Jamaica was named the Caribbean 's Leading Cruise Destination at the 12th World Travel Awards, held in London last evening. Considered the world's most comprehensive travel awards, each year travel agents in 200 countries vote to recognise excellence in several regional geographical categories.
“Getting the attention of travel professionals is at the heart of executing a successful marketing strategy,” said Rosalie Donaldson, Senior Vice President, International Marketing at The Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ). “We have positioned Jamaica as a complete destination offering an outstanding range of experiences that cannot be had anywhere else in the Caribbean , and so we are thrilled at receiving this award which also honours the contributions of all our industry partners.”
Cruise Jamaica, the brand used by the PAJ to promote the island as cruise destination, has maintained an aggressive campaign to keep Jamaica top of mind with industry executives and travel agents. A new website, cruisejamaica.com was recently launched, and Jamaica figures prominently in the editorial content of leading cruise publications.
“In recent years we have redoubled our actions by drawing on the affinity people around the world have for Jamaica, but we have also worked at doing the right things to ensure that our cruise passengers have a memorable time with each visit,” noted William Tatham, Vice President, Cruise and Marina Operations. The Port Authority of Jamaica works with several agencies including the Ministry of Transport and Works , Jamaica Tourist Board, the Ministry of Tourism and the Tourism Product Development Company, to develop the destination's capabilities.
In 2006, Montego Bay is scheduled to receive regular calls from the several new cruise ships, including Freedom of the Seas , the world's largest ship. The continued growth in cruise calls has initiated expansion plans, which will enable Montego Bay to accommodate large ships, now the standard for the industry. In advance of these plans, a purpose-built floating pontoon pier has been installed to enable passengers from these larger cruise ships to come ashore. Studies are also currently underway to assess the expansion possibilities for Ocho Rios.
As of October 2005, 877,038 cruise passengers visited the island, a 2 percent increase over last year's figures.
