Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism Ed Bartlett and Senior Adviser and Strategist in the Ministry of Tourism Delano Seiveright are assuring tourism industry players that the country is safe for visitors and that a recent controversy aroudn suggestions from Kalina Collier that she held against her will are false and mischievous.

Collier, a JetBlue Airways stewardess who in light of her misdeeds has been fired by the American airline, entered Jamaica on January 28, 2021 and tested positive for the coronavirus. She was placed in isolation at the Ocean Coral Spring Resort, Trelawny, in keeping with Jamaica’s COVID-19 prevention protocol as stipulated by the Ministry of Health.

While there she was seen going and coming but nevertheless took to social media suggesting that if she was not seen she had been abducted and that the Government was in collusion with those who were holding her.

This went viral on social media with YouTube ‘influencers’ and other digital platforms calling for an investigation and claiming she was being held against her will without any evidence or corroboration.

On Sunday, February 14, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) issued a statement which read: “The police are advising members of the public to dismiss as rumour information that has been circulated via social and other media that American national Kalina Collier was kidnapped in Jamaica. The police assert the information is baseless and mischievous.”

The controversy caused an incalculable headache for the Ministry of Tourism, already reeling from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Against the onslaught, both Bartlett and Seiveright have worked to allay fears and spur efforts to reboot the sector which is the largest earner of foreign exchange in the country.

With increasing crime rates, the economy contracting, hotels at below 30 per cent occupancy, the abduction of foreign nationals would be another blow to the beleaguered sector that has already had to endure so much.

Bartlett and his team have made efforts to see to it that the sector stays afloat and that Jamaica is still able to welcome tourists.

Collier’s sophistry threatened to undo all that.

The Ministry of Tourism made an especial effort to look into the matter and ensure that Collier was in no harm and that she was safe and doing well. She refused to acknowledge the police and the Ministry of Tourism had checked up on her and that she was fine and in no danger. Social media also refused to communicate with equal gusto that authorities had looked into the matter and that it was a ruse.

Bartlett, speaking with the press, said: “I join the call by the police who are warning people to desist from sharing misleading social-media posts claiming Miss Collier has been kidnapped as sharing false information can constitute an offence under the law. It is fake news.”

In 2019, Jamaica welcomed 4.3 million visitors with the tourism sector that year bringing in US$3.64 billion. For 2020, Jamaican tourism was on track to do even better and was looking to rake in around US$4.4 billion.

With the pandemic unleashed upon the world and Jamaica closing down at the end of March 2020, the sector cratered with 50,000 of its workers laid off. Cruise ships no longer visited Jamaican ports and travelers were advised to remain home. Jamaica’s tourism sector is expected to bring in just US$1.4 billion for 2020, a far cry from the US$4.4 billion projected.

It is against this background that the Kalina Collier story was a clear and present danger to the country and threatened to unravel all the work done by Bartlett and his team at the tourism ministry.

“First, an Englishman bring the virus into the country and now this American girl create a story to make Jamaica look bad in the eyes of the world. We need to come down harder on foreigners. It’s them who are causing us problems,” said Lincoln Myrie who manages Bougainvillea Villa in Ocho Rios, St Ann.

“She fly back to America, free as a bird after the havoc she created and will be allowed to get away with it. She should not be allowed to set foot in Jamaica again.”