Financial hit: $300 million in lost tourism revenue, according to John Lynch, chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board.
The response: The industry is trying to recover its losses through a proactive public relations campaign, according to Lynch. Travel agents and journalists are being flown into the country to show them that the beach resorts are far from the violence and unaffected by it. "What happened was in a defined area of Kingston," says Lynch. "The bulk of all visitors stay in Montego Bay, which is three and a half to four hours away."
The reality: For the tourist hot spots of Jamaica, it's business as usual. "Of the many people I talk to who go to Jamaica, very few of them actually go to Kingston, myself included," says Lonely Planet editor Robert Reid.
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