US embassy cable - 05KINGSTON1346

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINGSTON 001346 
 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA/CAR (BNICHOLS) (BENT) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, CPAS, JM 
SUBJECT: WHA/CAR DIRECTOR NICHOLS DISCUSSES WHTI WITH GOJ 
TOURISM DIRECTOR PENNYCOOK 
 
 
1.  Summary: On May 11, Director of Caribbean Affairs Brian 
Nichols and Econoff met with Paul E. Pennicook, Director of 
Tourism at the Jamaica Tourist Board, to discuss the impact 
of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) on 
Jamaica's tourism industry, as well as the general prospects 
for Jamaican tourism development in the future.  End Summary. 
 
2. On May 11, Brian Nichols, Director for  Caribbean Affairs, 
accompanied by Econoff met with Jamaica's Director of 
Tourism, Paul E. Pennicook to discuss the ramification of the 
Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI).  Pennicook began 
by outlining Jamaica's development as a tourist destination. 
Having begun as a small "enclave" destination with few 
attractions outside of the walled resorts, it now provides 
over 26,000 rooms and considers the mass-market traveler as 
an important segment of its customer base.  In 2004, seventy 
percent of Jamaica's 1.5 million stopover visitors were from 
the United States, more than half of whom traveled without 
passports.  Pennicook stated that the imposition of the new 
requirement for Americans to have passports to travel to the 
Caribbean as of January 1, 2006, will have a negative impact 
on arrivals, driving visitors to alternative destinations 
such as the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Cancun, 
Mexico.  The Tourist Board projects a twenty percent decrease 
in the number of American tourists in 2006, due to the extra 
hassle of obtaining travel documents.  In order to achieve a 
more level playing field and avoid this "amazingly negative 
impact", Pennicook expressed his desire to have Caribbean 
implementation of the WHTI pushed back to December 2006, the 
same time as it will take effect for Cancun, or at least to 
June 2006, which would put implementation past the peak of 
the 2005-2006 tourism season. 
 
3.  Nichols responded that the WHTI implementation schedule 
was not intended to harm Caribbean tourism interests, but was 
designed with an appreciation for workflow management.  Since 
more Americans travel to Mexico than to the Caribbean, it 
will take longer to issue the requisite number of passports 
to travelers bound for destinations there.  He said that the 
requirements of the WHTI would be widely publicized in the 
United States, and that passport applications would be 
accepted at post offices, libraries and state and local 
government offices.  The first publicity efforts were begun 
in late March 2005.  Nichols encouraged Pennicook to place 
links on Jamaican tourism websites that led to the State 
Department's WHTI information page at www.travel.state.gov. 
He also promised to explore provision of WHTI promotional 
materials for Jamaican immigration and customs officials and 
general public education, which the U.S. was doing in the 
Bahamas.  In response to Pennicook's expressed fears that 
tour operators would direct customers away from countries 
that require passports, Nichols recommended that the Tourism 
Board work with the operators to enable them to become 
distribution points for information on how to get passports. 
 
4. Nichols also suggested that the timeline for WHTI 
implementation was not set in stone,but rather the reason for 
the comment period for the proposed new regulation.  He 
recalled that Bahamian tourism officials had suggested an 
alternative to the regional plan would be a "mode of travel" 
benchmark, where all air travelers would be required to have 
passports on one date, and travelers using land routes would 
have to meet the requirement at a later date.  Pennicook 
stated that he liked this idea better, since most American 
visitors to Cancun arrive by air, and this would put them on 
a level playing field with Jamaica and the rest of the 
Caribbean.  Nichols underscored that while the USG would 
consider such proposals, it was essential that Jamaica work 
to educate its tourism customers on the issue in preparation 
for a December 31, 2005 implementation. 
 
5. Pennicook described some of the problems Jamaica has 
experienced at its ports of entry.  He said that the 
resumption of an immigration check on outbound passengers has 
been disastrous for people-flow, and asked if the WHTI would 
improve things.  Nichols responded that the new passports 
would all be machine readable, and would represent a great 
improvement in both speed and security over birth 
certificates and assorted photo IDs. 
 
6.  Shifting gears to Cuba's potential future impact on 
tourism, Pennicook stated the official Jamaican position is 
that they expect many Americans to go to Cuba out of 
curiosity, but that Jamaica's traditional customers will 
return in subsequent years having seen that the Cuban tourism 
infrastructure is inferior to that in Jamaica.  Nichols 
agreed, stating that Cuba presently serves the European 
tourism market, and that most of its tourism flows will grow 
from there, rather than from the United States. 
 
7. Pennicook stated that Jamaica had 1.4 million visitors in 
2004, and had set a target of 1.52 million in 2005.  The 
industry slumped substantially in 2001 and 2002, following 
9/11, but rebounded in 2003, delivering the best year to 
date.  Even with the impact of the hurricane season in 2004, 
the industry experienced five percent growth.  The Tourism 
Board has targeted eight percent growth for the 2005-2006 
season, mostly due to new room construction and investment 
from Europe.  He further stated that they will begin 
targeting the Latin American market again, after several 
decades of having essentially abandoned that sector. 
 
8.  On the subject of the introduction of casino gambling 
into the island, Pennicook stated that the official GOJ 
position was "slowly evolving" towards acceptance.  He said 
that it will probably be legalized after the current Prime 
Minister leaves office.  Personally, he said, he would fix 
the laws and introduce gaming "yesterday".  He cautioned that 
casinos would not be a magic pill to fix Jamaica's economy, 
but will substantially extend the diversity of Jamaica's 
tourism product, and serve as the nucleus for new nighttime 
attractions, the quality and quantity of which are sorely 
lacking at present.  Though it will most likely not 
significantly increase the number of arrivals on the island, 
according to Pennicook, it should increase the amount that 
existing visitors spend during their stay. 
9.  Pennicook commented that recent Chinese interest in 
Jamaica indicates the possibility of a new surge in tourist 
arrivals from Asia.  However, he says that it is in the early 
stages as yet, and will not become significant overnight. 
Most Chinese visitors will come as large tour groups under 
strict guidelines.  Getting visas for Chinese visitors is a 
logistical hassle, since Jamaican consular representation in 
China is presently miniscule. (Note: Jamaica recently named 
its first resident Ambassador to China, Wayne McCook, who 
will take up his post in the next few months.  McCook is 
currently the acting Under Secretary in the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.  End note.)  Pennicook 
also commented that the lack of direct air links will limit 
the volume significantly, noting that Japanese tourism in 
Jamaica surged during the Atlanta Olympics when Air Jamaica 
coordinated its schedule to connect with direct flights 
coming from Japan, but then fell off to almost nothing once 
the Olympics ended and JAL stopped flying that route. 
 
10.  Comment:  The meeting between Nichols and Pennicook was 
cordial.  Pennicook explained that his problems were with the 
timing of the WHTI enforcement in the Caribbean, not with the 
reasons for its implementation.  Pennicook's primary concern 
was that tourists would choose to avoid getting a passport 
and take their business to Cancun, Mexico, Puerto Rico or the 
U.S. Virgin Islands, none of which will require U.S. 
travelers to have passports when the WHTI first takes effect 
in Jamaica.  Pennicook appeared eager to work with the USG to 
smooth out the implementation in the region, but repeatedly 
requested that the timing of the start date be harmonized 
with that of their direct competitors.  End comment. 
 
11.  This message was cleared by WHA/CAR Director Nichols. 
 
ROBINSON