Travel Alert for Jamaica
Valid for travel as of May 21, 2010

The U.S. Department of State has issued a Travel Alert for Jamaica due to the civil unrest in the Kingston metropolitan area, and the government of Jamaica has imposed a State of Emergency in Kingston. As a major tour operator to Jamaica with over 20 years of experience, we continue to monitor the current situation and are confident, based on the State Department’s most recent information, that travel to the major tourist areas is safe, and that as long as normal precautions recommended for travel anywhere are observed, our mutual clients will have an enjoyable vacation in one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations. And as part of our ongoing commitment to you, we urge you to review the facts and to be prepared to address your clients’ concerns and questions about upcoming travel to Jamaica with knowledgeable, factual information:

What you need to know and what your clients need to understand:

• The recently updated Jamaica Travel Alert is particular to the Kingston metropolitan area specifically and not the major tourist areas.
  
  
• The travel alert does not discourage U.S. citizens from traveling to Jamaica.
  
  
• The resort areas of Jamaica, one of the most popular leisure destinations in the Caribbean, are quite a distance from the travel alert area of Kingston referred to in the travel alert. Montego Bay (approx 3.5-4 hrs. away); Ocho Rios (approx. 1.5-2 hrs. away) or Negril (approx. 4 hrs. away)
  
  
• Rest assured that your client’s safety is a foremost priority with our hotel partners as well as our in-destination representatives.
  
  
• The alert should be viewed in perspective and was issued because of the possibility of civil unrest in the Kingston area. Travel Alerts are generally issued to advise of short-term situations posing potential risk to the security of U.S. citizens in specific areas.

As always, Vacation Express encourages our mutual clients to take common sense precautions to ensure that their travel to Jamaica is safe and enjoyable. We do not take the State Department’s travel alert lightly, and neither should you, and we are concerned, of course, by recent events. However, it is our hope that people will recognize that hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens travel safely to Jamaica’s tourist areas each year and return home with excellent memories of a wonderful vacation experience.

Thank you for communicating to your leisure clients that at the present time, the popular tourist areas of Montego Bay, Ocho Rios and Negril continue to be fascinating, exciting and safe vacation destinations.

See the State Department's site for the full travel alert.