And yes, In The Know Traveler was there — dg –

KINGSTON, JAMAICA – July 23, 2010 – The Jamaica Tourist Board ramped up its social media and marketing efforts with its first-ever “Bloggers’ Meet-up in Jamaica.” Jamaica hosted a four-night visit, from July 15-19, establishing a proactive dialogue with influential travel bloggers who will continue to share personal and first-hand travel experiences with their audiences.

“This is just the first of many blogger meet-ups that the Jamaica Tourist Board will host,” said John Lynch, Jamaica’s Director of Tourism. “We recognize and respect the fast-growing blogger community and wish to actively engage them and share information on the destination that will pique the interest of their readers. With travelers looking to social media as an alternative source for information, it is essential that we remain relevant in the industry by enhancing our communication tools to reach out to and interact with potential travelers.”

Some of the top influential U.S. based travel and niche bloggers were invited to experience the unique offerings of the island’s traditional tourist regions – Montego Bay, Ocho Rios and Negril – to further remind their readers that Jamaica is the destination for an unforgettable Caribbean getaway.

The bloggers were hosted by Unlimited-Luxury® Secrets Resorts & Spas in Montego Bay, the newly built 700-room, side-by-side Secrets St. James and Secrets Wild Orchid resorts; and transportation to the various tourist regions were provided by AMSTAR.

“Secrets Resorts & Spas is pleased to partner with the Jamaica Tourist Board on efforts that seek to fortify the destination’s position as one of the leading Caribbean destinations,” said Alex Zozaya, president of AMResorts. “We recognize the importance of social media therefore this meet-up was an opportunity to better understand the needs of bloggers while welcoming them to experience Jamaica’s and Secrets Resorts & Spas’ exceptional offerings.”

During their stay in Jamaica, the social media group was able to stay connected with their audience courtesy of technological infrastructure put in place to facilitate real-time tweets, blog posts and video uploads. Bloggers also participated in a special webisode to air on Jamaica’s YouTube Channels.

The U.S. based media had an opportunity to interact with local Jamaican bloggers and experience the thrills of many of the island’s attractions including Dunn’s River Falls, Rick’s Café, Margaritaville, and Chukka Cove. The group also indulged in local cuisine at Scotchie’s – a choice spot for Jamaican jerk. Island Routes provided a tour of Negril on their catamaran and the bloggers also experienced Jamaican hospitality from Sandals Negril and Beaches Negril Resort & Spa.

Additionally, in an effort to enhance the way in which travelers receive timely information on the destination, the Jamaica Tourist Board has launched its own blog, The Island Buzz. The blog will feature the island’s latest news and events with fresh content added daily. The blog aims to be an alternative resource on Jamaica and welcomes the public to share their thoughts and opinions on posts, articles, promotions and more. Followers of the site can link to Facebook or re-tweet on Twitter to spread the news or encourage discussion. The blog evolved from the Island Buzz newsletter, which is sent monthly and has an opt-in database of 10,000 people. www.islandbuzzjamaica.com

About Secrets® Resorts & Spas
A member of Preferred Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Unlimited-Luxury® Secrets Resorts & Spas offer adults an extra measure of romance and sensuality in beautiful settings where everything is included. The award-winning resorts feature elegantly-appointed rooms and suites with 24-hour concierge and room services; multiple gourmet, a la carte restaurants and lounges serving premium beverages; endless day and evening activities in spectacular settings; and more. Information about Secrets Resorts & Spas is available by calling 1-866-GO-SECRETS or visiting www.secretsresorts.com.

About the Jamaica Tourist Board
The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), founded in 1955, is Jamaica’s national tourism agency based in the capital city of Kingston. The JTB was declared the Caribbean’s Leading Tourist and Convention Bureau by the World Travel Awards (WTA) from 2006 to 2009, while Jamaica earned the WTA’s vote as the World’s Leading Cruise Destination, the Caribbean’s Leading Destination and the Caribbean’s Leading Cruise Destination, for the third consecutive year.

JTB offices are located in Kingston, Montego Bay, Miami, Toronto and London. Representative offices are located in Düsseldorf, Barcelona, Rome, Amsterdam and Tokyo.

For details on upcoming special events, attractions and accommodations in Jamaica go to the JTB’s Web site at www.visitjamaica.com, or call the Jamaica Tourist Board at 1-800-JAMAICA (1-800-526-2422). Follow the JTB on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jamaica, on Twitter at www.twitter.com/visitjamaicanow or on YouTube at www.youtube.com/aboutjamaicajtb.

For more Jamaica Stories on ITKT

For the last several days, I have been enjoying the warm Caribbean Sea in Jamaica. The visit proved predictable in many ways. I heard lots of infectious reggae music, chatted with plenty of friendly Jamaicans, swilled fruity drinks in fluted glasses on sandy beaches, and was nipped by the occasional damned mosquito.

However there was one big surprise. The food was great. Every meal impressed me. I never grumbled about the Jamaican food from my previous trip, but this time around things were different. Fruits and greens were particularly fresh and tasty. Chefs seemed to take a few more chances that paid off. Skills felt well-honed. I found more traditional Jamaican meal options beyond classic jerk chicken, which I am so fond of eating, and everything was served with a sassyness that the locals wear so well.

In fairness, most of my meals on this trip were at either Beaches or Secrets resorts, in Negril and Montego Bay respectively, and remained more resort dining experiences. Still, there was a definite upgrade in my culinary experience.

While the finer dining experience has improved dramatically, I have to say that my favorite meal came from a simple brown wrapper while I had been sitting on a bus.

I discovered the “patty.” The patty is a flaky, gooey pastry filled with meat, cheese, veggies or seafood, and is sort of a croissant flattened to the size of a tall, thick Pop Tart, only much better. If I had stayed longer, I would have grown fat.

From my understanding, there are two main chains travelers should be on the look out for: Tastee Patties and Juici Patties. Both chains have numerous locations throughout Jamaica.

Slimming? Probably not. I am guessing there is a cube of butter in each bite of these savory treats (I just made myself drool). Delicious? Totally. I highly recommend making a point of stopping to get one for an authentic taste of Jamaica, and you have no excuse as there is a Tastee Patty at Montego Bay’s International Airport.

After stints in antiques, construction, film and as a professional card player, Devin Galaudet has now found his niche combining his passion for travel and writing. Devin’s freelance writing is currently featured in a popular trade publication and honors this path as a labor of love. When he is not writing Devin enjoys his fiance, pixie-like ten-year-old daughter and reading books of all kinds.

For the third time in as many years, I caught up with Dian Holland of Jamaica Tourism at the Los Angeles Times Adventure Travel Show. Hear what she has to say about travel on her island.

As with all of our videos Quicktime 7.0 or better is required to see our great videos in all of their luster and highest quality. However, we have now added a new feature so YouTube users can see this video here as well.

We are also on iTunes, Youtube, Current TV, and Google video. And be sure to scroll all the way down to see the video.

Maryl catches up with Diann Holland and the lay-back vibe of the Jamaica Tourism Board to discuss the obvious parts to visiting Jamaica: culture, food, and beaches while also getting beyond the basics to explore the real Jamaica. This is part of our on-going series helping travelers get to know destinations better before visiting.

I think this is the first video in a series of meetings with Diann. As always a fun speaker.

For more on Jamaica at ITKT. Produced by Wayfarer Digital.

For me, the Morgan Harbor Hotel was a place of legend – personal legend. My father was briefly stationed in Jamaica during his time with the US Navy, running drug patrols in the waters off Jamaica. He came home with keepsakes: a gold necklace, stories of the beautiful beachfront bar at Morgan Harbor, and a tattered picture book of Jamaica still found in most hotel rooms. I looked at that book a thousand times as a little girl. Perhaps it wasn’t coincidence that as an adult I would make many business trips to Jamaica, making it feel like a second home.

The Morgan Harbor Hotel and Marina overlooks Kingston Harbor, a curving inlet against the dramatic backdrop of the Blue Mountains, with its deceptively sandy beaches and imposing industrial touches – the cranes, winches, and other pieces of equipment used on the docks of this thriving port town. The Harbor waters, although cleaned up in recent years, are too polluted from industrial activity for good swimming. Still, sitting in the outdoor bar under the shade of a giant palapa with an ice cold Red Stripe in hand, I was sampling some of the best that Jamaica had to offer.

Sun, sand, and sea – the classic terms used to describe Jamaica. They evoke images of white sand beaches beneath swaying palm trees, frosty tropical drinks, and the lyrical rhythms of Bob Marley’s reggae drifting through the air. High-end resorts, like Sandals and Breezes, offer sprawling resorts that can entertain their guests for a week without ever leaving the grounds. Water sports in Montego Bay, relaxing on the beach in Negril, and braving the climb on Dunn’s River Falls in Ocho Rios. These are the most common experiences of the millions of tourists that visit the island each year. However, Jamaica has another side, Kingston. While frequently only experienced by the business traveler or the most intrepid tourist, this city of more than 650,000 has much to offer the visitor willing to explore.

My first experience of Jamaica was very different from visiting the usual sprawling Caribbean retreats of Jamaica’s coastal areas. I took a small plane from Miami. The plane was one-step up from a puddle jumper. We flew low on the hour-long flight, low enough that I could see reefs beneath turquoise waters and people moving about other Caribbean islands we passed. After landing, I walked down the steep portable stairway onto the tarmac and was nearly flattened by the heat and smog that encircled Norman Manley International Airport.

Kingston vibrates with energy. Constant activity clogs the streets with sometimes-unbearable traffic, which leads visitors past a cement factory, small houses, and colorful shops into the modern business center, New Kingston. This area boasts some excellent hotels, including a Hilton and a locally flavored Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. The Pegasus is geared to the business traveler with spacious rooms and bright, Caribbean-inspired décor, and market that Pope John Paul once stayed there. The hotel is comfortable with good service and breakfast consisting of delectable fresh fruit served poolside every morning. A morning that includes flipping through Kingston’s daily newspaper The Gleaner, lulls the traveler into a vacation-like tranquility.

The culinary scene in Kingston offers more than one might expect. Curried goat and the local Ital cuisine, vegan food favored by Rastafarians. It must be sampled. However, for the more demanding palette, Restaurant Japan at the Hilton offers some of the finest Japanese stir-fries and sushi I have ever had. Another local favorite, the Devonshire Restaurant, is in a restored 19th century mansion, and specializes in locally caught seafood with a Jamaican twist. Be sure to try the fresh squeezed fruit juice.

Old Port Royal sits at the end of a single, bumpy road not far from the Morgan Harbor Hotel. The 17th century center of commerce and military activity in Jamaica has fallen victim through the centuries to a string of unfortunate history. It thrived until 1692, when an earthquake destroyed the town and two-thirds of it tumbled into the sea. Once known as the “wickedest city on earth,” Old Port Royal was a haven for pirates, had a reputation for great wealth, brazen women, and a staggering one bar for every ten residents.

Today, there is little commercial activity and minimal economic opportunity for the current residents, although various projects have been put forward to revitalize Old Port Royal and develop a full-scale tourist attraction from what is left of an overlooked set of ruins. The ancient buildings are fascinating – the most telling detail of their history are the slanted stone floors forming the foundation of buildings never righted after more than 300 years after the devastating earthquake.

Of course, no trip to Kingston would be complete without a visit to the Bob Marley Museum. The city’s most famous son is memorialized in a small, colorful museum with a garden of marijuana plants surrounding the front door. With a complete collection of memorabilia including an extensive photography exhibit, the museum is a fun stop for Marley fans.

Wrapping up a trip to Kingston with a weekend trip to escape the city’s bustle and the heat is easy. Visitors can fly to Montego Bay in less than 20 minutes or drive across the island to Ocho Rios, and stop at the open-air markets to sample slow roasting jerk pork. Less common but perhaps more beautiful, the Blue Mountains offer an opportunity to escape the city and take in refreshing mountain air, the view is breathtaking. On a clear day, the fortunate can see as far away as Cuba.

Chris Blackwell, of Island Records fame, has taken to property development and definitely gets it right. One of his resorts is luxurious Strawberry Hill. Rooms are expensive, but worth every penny for the solitude and service. Spa treatments are also available, and Individual bungalows connect by meandering mountain paths and a blanket of beautiful wild flowers, which evoke a sense of pampered peace that warmed my soul. Perfect for a weekend getaway, Strawberry Hill is an hour from Kingston by car.

For those willing to explore, Jamaica has a lot to offer. With an alluring mix of energy, a vibrant music scene, world-class cuisine and hotels, and an interesting history just under the surface, Kingston is well worth a visit.

SIDEBAR Contacts
Morgan Harbor Hotel 1 876 967 8075

Pegasus Hotel – (876) 926-3690
http://www.jamaicapegasus.com/

Bob Marley Museum – http://www.bobmarley-foundation.com/museum.html

Strawberry Hill – 1-876-960-8134
http://www.islandoutpost.com/strawberry_hill/

Written and photographed by Elizabeth Hooper

On my first trip to Jamaica, I religiously avoided drinking the water. Instead, I overdosed on caffeine with Coca Colas at every meal. Nothing fought the heat like an ice cold Coke, sometimes two. On the morning of my second day, as I met with my boss to debrief before our meetings, he casually asked “Do you always drink soda for breakfast?”

“Oh no,” I replied, “It’s just because I’m not drinking the water. I don’t want to get sick.”

Suppressing a smile, he leaned over and tapped the icy glass. “You know what’s in ice, right? And what’s melting in your glass and mixing with your soda?”

Sure enough, the next morning as I struggled with the violent effects of my first bout of “traveler’s sickness,” I learned a cardinal rule of traveling. Become savvy about all the ways you might possibly imbibe water in your travels, and you’ll be much happier and healthier.

Most people have heard the adage “Don’t Drink the Water!” when planning trips to certain foreign destinations. This is typically followed closely by another common travel suggestion – “Stay Hydrated!” It may sound tricky, but travelers can successfully navigate foreign waters (staying healthy and hydrated) with a bit advance research, preparation, and careful packing.

How do I know if I can drink the water?
How can a traveler tell if there’s something in the water that’s likely to make her sick? Contamination of drinking water can come from several sources – water may not be chlorinated, for example, or general sanitation may be lacking. Viruses, bacteria, and parasites are all potential risks. A little research, with sources like the Center for Disease Control’s Travel Reference Site, provides important information on water and food born illnesses and safety in specific destinations. Before departing, travelers are well advised to do a bit of research.

However, when in doubt, drink bottled water or choose methods to treat tap water before drinking. The consequences of drinking contaminated water can devastate a vacation, causing vomiting, diarrhea, and other uncomfortable conditions. The good news is that this is easily avoidable.

If I can’t drink the water, what can I do to make it safe?
An easy alternative to treating your water is drinking bottled water from a trustworthy source. Bottled water should be sealed. However, bottled water can be expensive, and hard to find in some remote destinations. Other beverages, such as soda, are often readily available. Avoid drinks with caffeine, as they will work against you in your mission to stay hydrated. It’s important to have at least one backup method ready to treat drinking water. The most common approaches are boiling, filtering, and chemically treating water.

Boiling
Boiling water is the most reliable way to disinfect it and ensure that it is safe to drink. Water should be boiled in a sterilized container, vigorously for at least one minute. At higher altitudes, water must be boiled for three minutes.

Filtering
When boiling water is not an option, consider using a portable water filter. These are conveniently located directly in some models of water bottle. Others are in the form of strainers that can be placed between running water and your drinking cup. With filtering, it is important to note that the process is not guaranteed to remove all contaminants from water. It is recommended that filtering be paired with a chemical disinfectant to ensure truly safe drinking water. Filtration does remove sediments from water, however, and is often used by travelers who faithfully disinfect their water with chemicals such as iodine.

Chemical Disinfectant
Iodine is the most common form of chemical treatment for water. Iodine is available in tablet, liquid, and crystal forms. It is important with chemical treatments to follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully. It is particularly important to pay attention to the “standing time” required for the method you used. Standing time refers to the amount of time between when you add the tablet/drops/crystals and when you drink the water. Increasing the standing time above the recommended is suggested to allow the treatment to function at maximum effectiveness.

Are there any other things I should know?
As illustrated by my Jamaican misadventure, being dedicated about the water you drink is not enough. Drinking water is not the only way that travelers can come into contact with contaminated water.

Use common sense:
- Consume drinks without ice.
- Brush your teeth and wash your face with treated water.
- Beware of foods, such as fresh fruits or vegetables, which may have been rinsed with bad water. Always peel off the skin, or avoid these altogether.

Staying hydrated is an important part of staying healthy while traveling. In addition to getting enough water, travelers need to ensure that the water they are drinking is safe. Advance planning and the use of common sense can help you stay both hydrated and healthy while on your vacation.

http://www.cdc.gov/travel/index.htm

Written by Elizabeth Hooper