Q & A with Patricia Samuels, Jamaica Tourist Board Director stationed in Germany

Jamaica is increasingly becoming a sought-after travel destination for Russian sunbathers willing to have a good Caribbean experience. Patricia Samuels, chief of the Jamaica Tourism Office for Europe –the office is headquartered in Germany- told CND about the steps the island nation is taking in terms of promotion and fair attendance, airlift and new facilities for Russian travelers.  

Q: What possibilities are being opened up for Russian tourists to travel to Jamaica?
A: We now have a direct flight to Jamaica every ten days, with Transaero, which is also a tour operator and sells packages on the flights. We see that the market is growing, so we’ve been asking and we have achieved once success. We have visa agreements for Russians, Ukrainians, Polish and the Czech Republic, as well as Hungary and Slovakia, for a total of six countries for a start. That’s the start. The government is moving to make travel easier for most visitors since tourism means that much to our country.

So, we’re delighted and I think it will be welcome that after a very, very long flight, visitors can come in, go through immigration easily and get to their hotels and to the beaches and to whatever is happening in Jamaica.

Q: You’ve come to Moscow twice to attend two different shows: MITT and Leisure.
A: Yes, we attend MITT and Leisure every year.

Q: Does that work for you?
A: We, because we were always of the belief that Leisure is for the winter market, and I’ve been doing Leisure for a number of years now. Since last year I started doing MITT and we also learned that there’s a summer market. For example, the flight with Transaero is going to continue through the summer; it started on January 1 and it’ll continue through this summer until October.

Then they’ll think about next year. If you talk to people at Transaero they’ll get an understanding of well they are doing. They are doing well in numbers and, I hope, they’re also doing well in turnover. So, it’s important to keep our presence here, and we’ll have a bigger presence during the Athletics World Championships in Moscow come August.

Q: How many Russian tourists travel to Jamaica every year?
A: Before the flight, we were averaging 2,000 Russians per year to Jamaica. Now with the flight, which is approximately 300 seats every ten days, we’re looking at a very strong growth of more than 200 percent hopefully.

Q: How long do these travelers stay in Jamaica?
A: The flight is for ten days, so they spend an average of ten days. I don’t know whether some of those people are spending 20 days, but it’s possible. Yet I do know there’s a minimum of ten nights.

Q: Do they come in individually or in groups?
A: Some of them are groups and others are individuals.

Q: Do Russian tourists prefer all-inclusive hotels?
A: The good thing about it is that they are selling both all-inclusive and no all-inclusive lodgings. It’s easier in all-inclusive hotels because, as you know, Jamaica started the all-inclusive system. However, we’re happy when some of the smaller hotels get business, and what this flight, this market is doing for us is making some of the smaller hotels get business from both the tour operators and the flight.

Q: How much money do Russian tourists spend in a single stay?
A: Our figures show that there’s an average of $125 US dollars per night, in terms of what visitors spend. However, some markets are higher and I think there’s a possibility that the Russian market will be higher. We will know at the end of the year what the average spend is. Something good is that they are doing a lot of tours around the island, they do a lot of excursions and they shop a lot. That means the return from this market will be very good.

Q: Do Russian tourists visiting Jamaica go there also as part of a multi-destination package?
A: The flight only comes to Jamaica.

Q: What about some individuals?
A: I don’t know because it’s early yet for me to get all the facts because I’m not in Jamaica now to see if they’re doing multi-destination tours. But that’s a possibility. Naturally when we get multiple flights, they can go from Jamaica to another destination easily.