Jamaican hoteliers urged not to add room surcharge

ABTA and the Federation of Tour Operators are urging Jamaican hoteliers to rethink plans to introduce an occupancy surcharge of up to $10 a night from this weekend.

The Jamaica Hotel & Tourist Association (JHTA) is supporting plans by the country’s hotels to add the charge from Saturday, the official start of the Jamaica winter season.

Hoteliers say the charge is due to the rising price of fuel, although not all are to impose surcharges.

ABTA said it has already been in touch with the Foreign Office, which will be speaking to the Jamaican High Commission.

“In addition, the FTO has contacted the president of the JHTA to warn that these extra charges could be extremely damaging to Jamaica’s industry,” said an ABTA spokesman.

“ABTA recommends that tour operators contact their Jamaican suppliers directly to address the situation and remind them of existing contractual obligations.”

Couples Resorts will not be passing on an energy surcharge to its clients.

Managing director Tom McNamara said: “A number of Jamaican hotels and operators have decided to charge their clients an energy surcharge per night, but we believe it is unfair to burden our clients and tour operators with this charge and have chosen to absorb the cost instead.”

Richard Whitfield, managing director of Jamaica’s luxury Half Moon resort, is also opposed to the energy surcharge being sanctioned by the island’s tourism lobby group, the Jamaica Hotel & Tourist Association.

“We agree that the hike in fuel prices has a ripple effect on energy costs and other expenses, he said. “However, our focus to combat the potential increase in costs is to carefully and effectively manage our consumption resort-wide. This is not a charge we want to pass on to our guests.”

The 400-acre, five-star property has seen a five per cent drop in its energy bill this year due to several conservation measures including the use of low energy bulbs and solar water heaters.

“What we will ask of our guests is to join us in our efforts to conserve energy by turning off air conditioning when leaving their rooms, turning off lights when not in use and reusing their towels and linen to reduce daily laundering,” Whitfield said. 

“While the surcharge can assist in offsetting these rising costs, we believe that the long term solution is to pay particular attention to our operation and devise creative ways in which we can reduce our drain on the environment.” 

by Bev Fearis and Phil Davies