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KINGSTON, Jamaica -- As the manhunt for alleged drug kingpin Christopher "Dudus" Coke drags into a third week and the government takes its anti-gang crusade nationwide, this nation of 2.6 million is fretting about the strength of its economic backbone: the event and tourism industries.
As scenes of firefights between government forces and gunmen loyal to Coke spooked tourists, airlines canceled flights, event planners pulled the plug and the government suspended its promotional ads.
The only comparable event is a hurricane, said Wayne Cummings, the president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association.
But while bad weather blows over, this crisis has raised questions about crime and political stability that may hang over the nation for months, he said.
"This has the potential to hurt us far more than any natural disaster," he said.
While it's impossible to tally the financial damage the pursuit for the drug don has had, the Jamaican Chamber of Commerce estimated the economic loss at $100 million.
Informal polls by the hotel association suggest some 300 to 350 people canceled their reservations in the days immediately after the fiercest fighting that broke out May 23.
But the country will never know how many people changed their minds entirely about the country, Cummings said.
Tourism is Jamaica's top earner of foreign currency, employs 80,000 people and accounts for about 20 percent of the gross domestic product. While the global recession has sapped most industries, tourism grew 9 percent during the first quarter.
"The current economic stability of the country is predicated on the tourism sector," Jamaica's Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett told The Miami Herald.
The island sees some 1.7 million visitors annually and about 60 to 70 percent of them come from the United States, attracted by its white sandy beaches and relaxed island vibe.
But that vibe was shattered last month when the government -- under pressure at home and from abroad -- tried to capture Coke for extradition to the United States on drug and weapons charges. The ensuing four-day firefight claimed the lives of 73 civilians and three security officers. It also revealed a side of Jamaica not touted in glossy brochures and reggae-heavy television spots.
According to the United Nations, Jamaica has the highest murder rate in the western hemisphere except for Honduras. In 2008, the country had 59.5 murders per 100,000 people. The United States, by comparison, has a rate of 5.2 per 100,000.
The government has pulled international tourism ads and doesn't know when they will resume.
"It was pointless to keep trying to compete with news of this kind," Cummings said. "It was throwing good money after bad."
While the initial fighting took place in West Kingston, more than 100 miles away from tourist hotspots along the north coast, Prime Minister Bruce Golding has vowed to take the fight nationwide.
"It is a campaign that will be sustained and intensified," Golding told parliament last month. "It is a campaign that will target criminal gangs wherever they exist, irrespective of their political alliances or whether have any such alliances."
That could put other gang-ridden areas under the microscope, including the northern parish of St. James, home to the resort city of Montego Bay.
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