Q & A with Rachel S. Anderson, Business Expansion Director for Glamour Tours

FITUR 2008 - Madrid, Spain

Penciled in as successful destination management company in Jamaica and with over 20 years of experience in the travel business under its belt, Glamour Tours, based in Montego Bay, Jamaica, has proven to be a leading travel agency in the Caribbean dealing with Glamour event planning, guided tours, entertainment, MICE coordination, weddings, hotel bookings and cruises. In this exclusive interview with our correspondent in Spain, Rachel S. Anderson, the company’s business expansion director, tells Caribbean News Digital her opinion about the ongoing increase of European -especially Spanish- tourists and investors landing in Jamaica.

Q.- We understand that Glamour Tours is a DMC (destination management company), isn’t it?
A.- Yes, it’s a DMC.

Q.- Do you have offices here in Europe?
A.- Yes. While our president is headquartered in the UK, we do have offices in Italy, Germany and also in Russia.

Q.- What do you make of the current flow of tourists going from Spain to Jamaica?
A.- When we started opening to outbound markets in Europe, we anticipated that we were going to have increasing flows of tourists from Europe, and especially from Spain because Spaniards are the kinds of tourists who travel looking for Caribbean islands and Jamaica has a lot to offer them in that region.

Q.- Can you give us a ballpark figure of the volume of tourists from Europe, and particularly from Spain that’s currently traveling to Jamaica?
A.- I’m not sure, but over the past year we saw an 18 percent increase of Europeans traveling to Jamaica, in 2007.

Q.- Do you think Spaniards like what they find in Jamaica as a travel destination?
A.- Yes, we do believe so because we’re not only seeing an increase in the number of tourists, but also in investments. Big-time companies like RIU and Iberostar are coming in. We’re becoming familiar with their products and with the increase of Spaniards coming to Jamaica.

Q.- Are you confident about the future of this flow of tourists coming not only from Europe and Spain, but from everywhere?
A.- Yes, particularly from Europe. Jamaica is now becoming more and more of a travel destination of choice among Europeans. These are travelers who are more used to traveling to places like Cuba and the Dominican Republic when it comes to the Caribbean. But now they are beginning to hear more and more about Jamaica, so I believe the future for those tourist flows is secured.