KINGSTON'S tourism industry is yet to rebound from the impact of the West Kingston upheaval in May, which resulted in occupancy at some city hotels being down to as much as zero per cent as large groups cancelled trips to the Jamaican capital.

"One hotel lost a group and went down to zero per cent occupancy because of it (West Kingston upheaval) and was unable to recoup any business for that week," said Nicola Madden-Greig, vice president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA).

"We saw hotels going from 90 per cent occupancy down to 10 per cent; we lost the international Test cricket matches and a lot of groups which were coming in that period," she added.

According to Madden-Greig, who is also chair of the JHTA's Kingston Chapter, the travel advisories issued by the United States, Canada and United Kingdom and which still exist for the island capital, has affected the city's recovery.

"We have been advised that for business travel that some United Nations agencies cannot travel until it is lifted, and so that is putting a major damper on business coming out of the United States market," Madden-Greig told editors and reporters at the Observer Monday Exchange at the newspaper head offices in Kingston.

Through the Jamaica Tourist Board, discussions are ongoing with the US Embassy in Kingston, but according to Madden-Greig the lifting of the travel advisories is something which will be governed by how those countries assess the situation.

"What we are trying to do is work with travel partners and continue with the local business and multinational companies in Jamaica to get the word out that we are back to normalcy, business is going on, so they can tell individuals who can make decisions about their travel to Kingston," she said.

She explained further that the JHTA Kingston Chapter continued to use traditional and social media to promote events and activities to show that Kingston is alive and well and that things are happening. This is in addition to working with the Jamaica Tourist Board to identify longer term strategies.

According to Madden-Greig, Kingston experienced a 30 per cent decline in stop-over arrivals in May with an even more significant decline anticipated for June when the figures are in.

And with Kingston being a gateway to other destinations, Madden-Greig said Port Antonio has also been seriously affected.

Workers at some Kingston hotels have also been placed on rotation, something that is not a

usual occurrence.

In addition to the US$10 million which the Government has allocated for a media blitz to repair Jamaica's image, Madden-Greig said individual hotels both in Kingston and other tourist destinations have been spending significant sums on their own to recover from the damning effects.

JHTA president Wayne Cummings, at the same time, said the US$10 million comes on the heel of the Jamaica Tourist Board having its budget slashed at the beginning of the financial year. As such he said the JTB would not have been able to survive with the US$17.5 million they were initially allocated and so that plus the crisis, US$10 million only just made up for the deficit.

"Individual hoteliers have been spending far more than the US$10 million... any one of our chains will be outspending them three four times," Cummings said.

Meanwhile, Madden-Greig said even without the recent challenges, Kingston has been a difficult sell because of a lack of understanding of the product.

"We are not sun, sea and sand but we are a city destination. We bring in on average somewhere in the region of 230,000 stop-over arrivals into Kingston, and that is greater than some other Caribbean destinations that tourism is their hundred per cent business," she said.

She admitted that Kingston still has a long way to go in terms of developing its cultural assets.

"There are so many gems just waiting to be discovered but we market quite a few. We position Kingston as the sport, entertainment, commercial, cultural capital and we promote it around those major events," she said.