Omar Robinson, President of the JHTA - file photo
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Omar Robinson
The Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) on Wednesday revealed that several resorts have been receiving queries from potential visitors about safety measures at the facilities since an investigative story published in the international media outlined incidents of sexual assault of several American tourists at some of the country's leading resorts.
In an interview with RJR News Wednesday afternoon, JHTA President Omar Robinson disclosed that it was too early to say whether the hotel sector will suffer any fallout.
He said would-be visitors have been expressing concern, however, so far, the hotels have been able to successfully convince the visitors that the hotel environment is safe and have been able to keep those bookings.
Mr. Robinson disclosed that the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) has also been in touch with stakeholders in respective markets to allay security concerns.
"With almost 4.3 million visitors last year, crimes against visitors is relatively low and we still pride ourself on that. We have a point zero-one (0.01) per cent incident rate," he noted.
According to a report in American newspaper USA Today, 78 Americans were raped at resorts in Jamaica between 2011 and last year.
Mr. Robinson has denied claims that there are attempts by hotels to cover up instances of tourists being assaulted.
He insisted that while the incidents are of a sensitive nature and the hotel sector tries to show care by protecting the identity of a victim, matters are usually reported to the relevant authorities.
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