Where are all the people

[Phil P]

I've been checking the Coco La Palm beach cam every other day for a couple weeks and have noticed how empty the beaches look. Is that accurate?

[ukran1ans]

Yep, it looks accurate. I think you'll start to see it pick up this weekend...

[rooster]

I've been doing the same thing as well as the Rick's Cafe webcam & been amazed of the lack of people for the last 2 big holidays & yes the beach is empty! We'll see if the they come for the highest part of the season. I always made my way there the last week of January through early March. Haven't been back since 2020 after 27 years of visits. So many of my friends there have pasted on.

[shuffleshoes]

I've been doing the same thing as well as the Rick's Cafe webcam & been amazed of the lack of people for the last 2 big holidays & yes the beach is empty! We'll see if the they come for the highest part of the season. I always made my way there the last week of January through early March. Haven't been back since 2020 after 27 years of visits. So many of my friends there have pasted on.

I agree. Things have changed so much in 25 years. Too many friends are no longer with us. Not nearly the same. Costs are also no longer favorible.

[phineasfreakears]

I'll be walking past the webcam multiple times starting Saturday evening, you can recognize me easily, I'm the old guy with a sunburn, wearing long baggy shorts and a baseball cap.

[Stoners6]

Phineas, that's like every third guy down there, me included, lol.

[Todd]

Phineas, that's like every third guy down there, me included, lol.

[johng]

It could very well be that people are finding the costs involved in vacationing in Jamaica to be excessive. I don't know what other islands cost these days but I do know that Jamaica and especially Negril could very well be pricing themselves out of the market. Some years ago it was quite affordable but it seems post Covid those costs have really escalated. I understand that the cost of living for an average Jamaican is an impossibility so I tend to think the political leadership currently making decisions might be some of this cause. Another obvious reason might very well be the uptick in violent crime in JA over the past 10 years. Yes, I agree with those who point to crime in their own American communities being worse than JA but when people are spending big bucks on a vaca I believe that there might be other destinations with fewer concerns.
As a long time visitor and huge fan of JA I am very disappointed to hear about the current tourism decline and only hope that 2025 proves to be better visited!!

[shuffleshoes]

I think you are correct.

[brownsd54]

It could very well be that people are finding the costs involved in vacationing in Jamaica to be excessive. I don't know what other islands cost these days but I do know that Jamaica and especially Negril could very well be pricing themselves out of the market. Some years ago it was quite affordable but it seems post Covid those costs have really escalated. I understand that the cost of living for an average Jamaican is an impossibility so I tend to think the political leadership currently making decisions might be some of this cause. Another obvious reason might very well be the uptick in violent crime in JA over the past 10 years. Yes, I agree with those who point to crime in their own American communities being worse than JA but when people are spending big bucks on a vaca I believe that there might be other destinations with fewer concerns.
As a long time visitor and huge fan of JA I am very disappointed to hear about the current tourism decline and only hope that 2025 proves to be better visited!!

I'm not to sure what tourism decline that you are referring to. The stats aren't in for 2024 quite yet but 2023 had the busiest year to date with over 25% more visits than in 2022. The only stats for last year are for the first quarter and showing over 4 million visits to Jamaica, putting it in place for another record year. The only decline would be maybe the evolution from small personal hotels to large AI. The Princess resort in Green Island is on track to fill 2,500 room and a drive from MoBay to Ochie will show several big big resorts going up. The airport just outside of Little London will kick start development along the south coast with big AI's. This is advantage Negril as there isn't enough space between the road and the ocean for a big sprawling AI. The people are here Johng and you can still come to Negril on a budget. Of course a little bigger budget from pre covid.

As for the violent crime, yes Jamaica has a violence problem but the real stat you have to look at is the crimes against tourists. Visitors reporting crimes is very very low especially compared to Mexico where the cartels are in fact targeting tourists. Visitors to Mexico are waking up to find dead bodies on the beach and the tourist areas are patrolled by the army with heavy machine guns. Again advantage Negril. Police are patrolling the beach on foot and on ATV's. Foot patrols on Beach Road and Cliff Road and to be honest man, I feel safer here that I do riding a bus in Winnipeg. I truly believe that you would be hard pressed to find a "destination with fewer concerns".

Don't take it from me man. Come check it out yourself, you won't be disappointed. I'm seeing some favourable airfares to MBJ, especially if you can fly on a Tuesday or Wednesday.