Jamaica, that is...

I may have a couple of business opportunities surfacing in the Caribbean, which, if I was to pursue them, would be require sales calls, and possible future visits by staff, to Kingston, Jamaica.

I have heard two different stories here:

a) extraordinarily dangerous, do not go; and
b) extraordinarily dangerous in the wrong parts of town, where as a business person, you won't see anyway, so don't worry about it.

Any AC fliers with comments? I realize this may be a bit off-topic, but it would involve a flight on an AC 763, so there you go!

I've been to Jamaica before, but it was all north shore stuff.

Comments?

Simon

From the DFAIT website on travel to Jamaica:

Jamaica (capital: Kingston) is an island located in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba. Tourist facilities are widely available, particularly on the west and north coasts. The official language is English, but patois is widely spoken.

Violent crime and petty theft are prevalent, particularly in Kingston. Gang-related violence occurs and can result in death, injury, and destruction of property. Visitors should take precautions to reduce the risk of crime, including the following:
a) exercise caution in urban areas and avoid the downtown area of Kingston after dusk;
b) avoid inner-city and poor neighbourhoods including West Kingston, Grant's Pen, August Town, Denham Town, Hannah Town, and Harbour View: regular and lengthy curfews are likely to be in place in the coming weeks in these places;
c) do not walk alone or visit beaches after dark; and
d) ensure hotel room doors and windows are secure.

Mobile police patrols operate to assist tourists. Security personnel and front-desk hotel staff can also offer assistance in most emergencies. Visitor information booths and Jamaica Tourist Board offices are located throughout the island. They offer various services to visitors, including direct radio links with local police and information on safe public beaches. These offices are located at:

MONTEGO BAY: Cornwall Beach, Gloucester Avenue/ tel.: 876-952-4425, -4426, -4427, or -4428

SANGSTER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT/ tel.: 876-952-2462

BLACK RIVER: 1 High Street/ tel.: 876-965-2074, -2075, or -2076

NEGRIL: Shop 20, Villas de Negril/ tel.: 876-957-4243

NEGRIL: Shop 9, Adrija Plaza/ tel.: 876-957-4489

OCHO RIOS: Ocean Village Shopping Centre/ tel.: 876-974-2570

PORT ANTONIO: City Centre Plaza/ tel.: 876-993-3051

KINGSTON: Head Office, ICWI Building, 2 St. Lucia Ave./ tel.: 876-929-9200

NORMAN MANLEY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT/ tel.: 876-924-8024

24-HOUR INFORMATION HELP LINE/ tel.: 876-929-9200

Demonstrations and large gatherings occur in Kingston. Most are peaceful, but some have turned violent. Canadians should exercise caution and avoid large crowds and demonstrations.

Travellers flying to or from Norman Manley International Airport should drive to or from Kingston on the South Camp Road, also known as the Humming Bird Route, instead of Mountain View Avenue.

Avoid using public transportation apart from taxis ordered from hotels and authorized by the Jamaican Union of Travellers Association (JUTA). These are identified by red-and-white "PP" licence plates and a lime green JUTA sticker on the window. Taxis are not metered. Determine the fare in advance. Passenger rail service is not available.

Traffic drives on the left. Drive defensively. Coastal roads are in fair condition, but driving in-country is dangerous due to narrow, winding, and poorly maintained roads. In the event of an emergency, call 110 for police and 119 for an ambulance. Motorists should keep vehicle windows closed and doors locked especially in Kingston as robberies occur.

Just as a further note, even the agents and ramp folks I work with at yyz airport that are originally from Jamaica tell us all to stay away from Kingston. Some staff have flown to Kingston when they've been unable to get the Montego Bay flight and all the ones I know have said never again.

The DFAIT info on Jamaica is accurate.

Some areas of Kingston are dangerous (for example, stay away from downtown Kingston) others are not. You may want to stay in a hotel in the New Kingston area (The Hilton is a good idea). Let your concierge know where you want to go and get recommendations on best/ safest routes etc. "Flyergold II" did spend some time in Kingston last year. "yyz-kin" seems to spend alot of time in Kingston for work so maybe they also have some insights....

Jamaica is a multicultural country (White Jamaicans, Chinese Jamaicans, Indian Jamaicans etc... with the Jamaican accent and all) some are surprised at this. There are also many Canadians who live here for work opportunities in the financial sector example Scotiabank (which is Jamaica's most popular and profitable bank), telecommunications (lots of Nortel expats), airline industry (Air Jamaica has quite a few Canadian pilots), Aluminium (ALCAN Jamaica) and many more...

There are some tourists who visit Kingston for the Bob Marley museum tour, hiking in the Blue Mountains (Blue Mountain coffee made in Mavis Bank some say is the best in the world. It is also quite expensive)

I am not sure what your business opportunity is, however, many foreigners have moved here and "set up shop" and are quite successful. There are large profit margins to be made here if in the right industry. Be aware though that people here work on Jamaica time which can be a challenge.

Drivers can be aggressive on the roads but perhaps no more so than Parisians.

I would suggest you spend some time here and see if it is the type of environment that you like before you start your business here. There are many wealthy Jamaicans with homes the size of those in Beverly Hills etc., however there are even more poor Jamaicans living in shacks. The contrast can be depressing. If you have never been to the third world, then you might be quite surprised.

The Canadian High Commission has a large, beautiful (brand new) building in Kingston. They will offer you some good advise. You should register your arrival with them if staying a long time here.

One thing for sure, the weather is nice most of the time although we are now in rainy/ hurricane season.

Safe travels and let me know if you have any more questions.



[This message has been edited by Flyaway (edited 06-24-2003).]

.........

Don't forget the dark rum, can't visit Jamaica without it.

Does anyone have any additional insight who may have travelled recently to KIN? flyaway and yyz-kin appear not to have logged on for a long time, so I'm hoping someone else may have been around down there.

All I expect to do is:

Land in KIN
Go to Hilton
Go to one office at 10-16 Grenada Way, Kingston JA 5
Go to another office at 2-6 Carlton Crescent, Kingston JA 10
Go back to airport at YYZ

Main worries (I won't be out after dark) are:

I have heard the road from KIN to New Kingston goes through the "bad parts".
Best way to arrange transportation -- I use someone like Empire in the US as the drivers have all gone through checks, etc.
Are the offices in the "good" part of town?

Thanks in advance ^

Simon

I will be traveling to Kingston...basically following in Simons footsteps from 4 years ago.

Arrive KIN
Travel to Hilton
Business @ 10-16 Grenada Way
Back to Hilton

...Client has said it is safe to walk from Hilton to 10-16 Grenada Way.

Anywone have any updates?

Thanks!!

The walk is safe enough in the daytime - night time is not so good. There are a lot of dodgy characters on Knutsford Blvd at night and you would be best to avoid walking this stretch of road (read, there are a lot of Crack/Coke/Meth Heads)

The Hilton is a good property and fairly safe. They used to have Kareoke outdoors on Friday nights and it was hysterical - good laughs. Just keep your wits about you if you are at the bar.

Make sure you take a JUTA cab from KIN - look for the signs or ask someone where the Juta stand is - safe and approved transportation and you wont get ripped off.

Not sure how travelled you are but you will see some shanties along the way from the airport - don't worry, you will get to the Hilton.

If you are going to be there for a while, register with the Canadian Embassy. There are a lot of expat Canadians and Americans there and the Embassy does hold events (just make sure you get on the list!)

If you are up for a trip out of the compound, go to Indies Pub. It is on Holburn - run by a couple of Jamaicans who moved to Canada and then retired back to Jamaica.

Hm. There's a bizarre case of deja vu.

The thread really doesn't belong here any longer, but I will reply nonetheless:

The walk from Digicel to the Hilton is just fine in the daytime other than it's scorchingly hot and you might melt into the ashphalt! I just did it last week.

You might feel a bit iffy around the Esso station as there are people hanging around, but just walk on by. Lots of other business people doing the same.

Hilton is fine, AC works, my main complaint is room service does not feature anything good, and too much which is generic American food.

In terms of transit to and from the airport - you can use a JUTA taxi, or call the Hilton and the tours desk will arrange some higher end transportation. Still much much cheaper than pre-arranging with Empire or Carey from here.

Further, Empire driver WILL use Mountain View Avenue, which is the fastest way from the airport to New Kingston, and also the one not recommended on all the embassy websites. As he said to me "I wouldn't come this way either mon, if there was trouble going on." Basically there are groups on either side of the road, and sometimes trouble breaks out between them (sometimes violent), but the taxis won't go that way if this is going on.

The drivers from the hotel (cannot speak to JUTA) will use the South Camp Road ("Hummingbird Route"), which again passes through some shanty towns down near the bottom but is pretty much safe.

Your worst risk would be going out wandering by yourself, or perhaps eating some of the food at KIN. I ordered from there first time through and got some wonderful jerk chicken with flies crawling around inside. :eek:

Feel free to PM me for more from a formerly petrified to visit KIN guy.

Simon

Further, Empire driver WILL use Mountain View Avenue, which is the fastest way from the airport to New Kingston, and also the one not recommended on all the embassy websites. As he said to me "I wouldn't come this way either mon, if there was trouble going on." Basically there are groups on either side of the road, and sometimes trouble breaks out between them (sometimes violent), but the taxis won't go that way if this is going on.



My husband is Jamaican and we had a friend who was a diplomat at the U.S. embassy in Kingston -- I strongly suggest you never allow a taxi driver to drive you on Mountain View. That road is strictly off-limits to embassy workers and no one in their right mind would choose to travel down that road, day or night. You are just asking for trouble, especially around election time. I'm surprised a cab driver would even choose that route with a tourist in the car. Yikes!!

Can someone please comment on the arrival process in Kingston? When you get off the plane what happens?

I'm asking because I have a business meeting down there and I have to carry a case with computers in it. Will the case be searched and/or x-ray'd?

It's unclear from the State Dept website whether I technically need a visa or not. For a short business stay it doesn't appear I do as I'm still considered a visitor?!

Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
RM

There is no x-ray on arrival. But there is a customs declaration form required if you intend to leave anything on-island.
By the letter of the law a visa is required for business visitors from the US or Canada, but I've never been asked. Tourists do not require a visa.--
13F

Can anyone recommend a hotel in Kingston with reasonable rates AND that has a decent internet connection? I need a connection to complete one evening's worth of work and then head out of the city to explore so I'm only after a one night stay.

I note the Hilton appears to be this thread's favourite, but are there any others?
The Knutsford sounds reasonable although it only has a dialup connection and I'm not convinced it'll be safe to leave a laptop there: apparently the safe isn't big enough.

-> After completing a bit more research, I'm starting to think an Internet Cafe will work out better. But, Is there anywhere genuinely safe and secure to leave a laptop unattended for a few days? Safer than travelling around with it that is.