The problematic issue of sexual attacks against visitors to the island, inside the walls of local hotels, again came to the fore recently when Asif Ahmad, the British high commissioner to Jamaica, said that British nationals, including children, have also been victims. “Sadly, yes, because in a way, these criminals don’t check the passports of the victim, and it is sufficiently serious for us to get worried,” said Ahmad, who was speaking at a recent media briefing held at the Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay, St James.

“Our approach so far, and I hope it works, is to work in a constructive way to talk to hotel managers about their recruitment practices – what training they offer, how they monitor behaviour, and the likes – and if they warned their guests to be careful about what they do.” Jamaica’s tourism got a black eye recently when international news media USA TODAY Network published an investigative story in which it claimed that 78 United States citizens were raped in Jamaica between 2011 and 2017. That report came on the heels of an incident in which two female American tourists were allegedly raped at gunpoint in their hotel room in Montego Bay by an employee of the hotel.(stabroeknews)…[+]