Paul Salisbury, who owns Guru Travel Group with his wife Emily, said he was left feeling "heartbroken" watching the devastation unfold as category 5 storm Hurricane Melissa barrelled across the Caribbean island earlier this week.
"As a business the best thing that we can do is get people on planes back to the island but we can't sell Jamaica without fixing the island first," Salisbury said.
"Whether you are a travel agent or an individual everybody goes through tough times. Nobody in the UK will ever experience what the Jamaicans have experienced in the last few days.
"We've not got the housing or the structures that just collapse. There are children that have got no food. The people had no choice, they had no way out. We only need £1, £2, or £3 for each person. Help us help Jamaica. Support the island that has supported the travel industry for years."
The GoFundMe page has raised more than £1,000 so far with Salisbury, who has personally experienced two storms in his life – Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and Hurricane Joaquin in 2015 – hoping to hit more than £5,000 in total.
"We will probably get £5,000 but I'm hoping for five figures," he said, before revealing that all proceeds raised will be donated to The Sandals Foundation.
Guru Travel Group was recently named the top contributing Jamaica specialist in the UK – north by the Jamaica Tourist Board. Salisbury told TTG the business generates more than £1 million each year selling holidays to Jamaica. The Staffordshire agency currently has 24 Jamaica bookings departing between now and the middle of December.
"Just one customer out of the 24 has said they want to change their booking," Salisbury said.
What are the tour operators doing?
Tui has now cancelled all package holidays to Jamaica until 9 November.
It said: “We’re continuing to assess the full impact of Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica and the extent of the damage to local infrastructure including resorts, roads and airports.
“Our teams on the ground are working hard to support customers and ensure they have access to food, water and essential items. The safety and wellbeing of our customers and colleagues remain our primary concern and we ask them to continue to follow the advice of local authorities and their resort teams.
“We understand that this is a challenging and unsettling time, and we’d like to thank customers for their understanding as this situation evolves.”
Tui said it was working to repatriate clients in Jamaica “as soon as the airport reopens and it is safe to transport customers”
“We’ll be in direct contact with impacted customers as soon as we have more details including revised departure and coach pick-up times,” it said.
Video footage shows extensive damage at Montego Bay airport, with part of the roof torn off and water damage throughout the departure area. Montego Bay receives the bulk of leisure flights, but Kingston airport, the island’s only other international airport, has reopened, and is now receiving passenger flights.
All Sandals Resorts guests and staff are safe following Hurricane Melissa, the hotel chain has confirmed.
The all-inclusive specialist said it was now undertaking an assessment of resorts in Jamaica following the devastation caused by the Category 5 hurricane. It has six Sandals-branded and one Beaches Resorts property which are mainly concentrated in the most affected areas.
Sandals said: “We are grateful to share that all guests and team members staying at our resorts are safe. The safety and well-being of our guests and team members remain our highest priority.
“Today, we continue to connect with team members across Jamaica and have begun comprehensive assessments of all resorts.”
Sandals added many guests had helped prepare for the emergency.
“Your cooperation, compassion, and sense of community lifted spirits and brought comfort during a challenging time,” it said.
“We also express deep appreciation to our team members across Jamaica for their extraordinary commitment and care as they balanced their responsibilities to guests while their own families and communities were affected by the storm.”
Sandals also praised agents and trade partners who had sent messages of support.
Operations teams are now reviewing travel arrangements for those due to depart in the next fortnight and offering “flexible options”.
Sandals said: “Travel agents with clients who have bookings to Jamaica made through Unique Caribbean Holidays Ltd, the UK in-house tour operator for Sandals and Beaches Resorts, that are due to depart in the next two weeks, can email flightops@sandals.co.uk
'We will get a clear picture in the coming days'
The worst of the emergency looked to be over on Thursday morning. Melissa, now downgraded to category 2, has passed through the southeast Bahamas, where hurricane warnings were in place for the central and southeast islands including Exuma and its Cays.
A Tropical Storm Warning was in effect for the Turks and Caicos Islands which lie to the southeast.
The Bahamas Department of Meteorology said it was expecting a storm surge of five to eight feet above normally dry ground, with two to four feet in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Earlier, Melissa had passed over southeast Cuba. Simply Cuba said it had now been in contact with the island.
Trade sales manager Alan Meadows said: “We have made contact with our reps in eastern Cuba to check on their situation, but I have not pushed for an immediate report as to damage etc.
“With all our clients currently being in Cuba in Havana and Varadero, I have given them space to call relatives and check in with loved ones. We will get a clearer picture from the team in a couple of days.”
