Is Jamaica Ready for Winter? TMR Canada is on the Ground with the JTB

For this reporter it’s a full circle moment. 

Thirty-seven years ago, in early December 1988, I took my first-ever press trip. The destination was Jamaica, where I was to assess the damage from the ferocious Hurricane Gilbert and report on whether the tourism industry was ready to welcome winter escapees from Canada.

The Jamaica Tourist Board-sponsored trip was my first journey outside Canada and the U.S., and I was immediately captivated by the beautiful island and its people. On the drive from Montego Bay to Ocho Rios there were some sobering sights – a palm tree thrust through the roof of a home like a javelin, hillsides covered in donated tents emblazoned with Canada markings. 

But that night I sat on my hotel balcony in Ocho Rios, sipping Appleton, smelling woodsmoke and listening to the thumping bass of a thousand boomboxes, as the radio station in my room played reggae versions of familiar Christmas songs. 

I already sensed I was in a place where the people are resilient and embrace life and its challenges with joy and perseverance.

That was confirmed on a subsequent morning near Firefly, where we saw ladies walking to church on the side of the road, wearing their Sunday-best dresses and hats. When we reached the church we saw that only one wall was left fully standing – but still the believers came.

I arrived at MBJ yesterday, once again accompanying a JTB group of 15 travel advisors. I had been warned by social media about aggressive begging and risk of theft at the airport. There was none of that, just the usual clamour of taxi and shuttle drivers and red caps trying to make a dollar.

We had a few hours free on the first day of the trip, so I accompanied The Travel Agent Next Door advisor and passionate Jamaica-lover Bonnie Fowler as she distributed cash and gifts donated by her friends and clients.

Accompanied by her long-time Jamaican driver and friend Boscoe, we first hit a grocery store and spent $1,000 on non-perishable goods – rice, canned meats and fish, powdered milk, cereal, pasta and more. 

We delivered the groceries to the home of Lecia Allen, founder of Wings Kidz, an after-school program that provides educational and developmental support to at-risk children, with programs including literacy and numeracy assistance, homework help, and character development activities.

I had visited Wings Kidz with Bonnie on another Jamaica Tourist Board trip in June, 2024, when she had been instrumental in raising $4,400 for the project. We met the kids and the volunteers who work with them, and it was an inspirational event.

The program is on pause until early next year as the recovery from Hurricane Melissa continues, but Allen will put together care packages and distribute them to families with the greatest needs in the storm’s aftermath.

As we made other stops so Fowler could distribute cash and Christmas toys to hotel staff at her favourite properties, we witnessed the impacts of the storm. Montego Bay traffic was as chaotic as ever, and some debris and downed trees is still being removed. But life goes on.

On the road to the Grand Palladium Jamaica Resort & Spa, where we are spending the first two nights of this three-night trip, we found the road clear, and the fast-growing vegetation already helping to heal Melissa’s scars. Grand Palladium looks great – most of the damage here was cosmetic, and there are 500 guests on property, not bad considering the current dearth of flights.

Today our group head towards Negril, stopping at various properties to see how they have fared and gauge their readiness for guests. More coverage to follow.