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NEGRIL, Westmoreland - Hotelier and president of the Negril Chamber of Commerce, Richard Wallace, is keeping a watchful eye on rising prices spawned by the ongoing conflict in the Ukraine, and is hoping the fighting will be short-lived."I am an optimist, I don't think it will cripple us but we will definitely have to make some tough decisions," said Wallace.A quick end to hostilities, he added, would be preferable to sustained fighting that would likely disrupt travel."What we don't want is for people to stop travelling," said the chamber president, adding that the industry has not yet seen a downturn in travel to Jamaica.Wallace was fielding questions from the Jamaica Observer while speaking with the media during the chamber's first major fund-raising activity since the advent of the novel coronavirus pandemic a little over two years ago. The event, called 'A night of Modern Caribbean Cuisine with Chef Jason Howard', raised funds for various projects. It was held at the Charela Inn Hotel's Le Vendôme Restaurant in Negril last Friday.Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine on February 24. The less-than-a-month-old war has so far resulted in the loss of approximately 15,000 lives and more than 2.8 million Ukrainians have sought refuge in neighbouring countries.The ongoing war has resulted in a worldwide instability in gas prices. According to Petrojam Limited's website, the price of 87 gasoline has surged from $180.6528 on February 24 to $186.9328 as of last Thursday. With the continuous movement in petroleum prices and the ongoing instability in the East, food prices are expected to increase and the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Company has warned of a potential increase in electricity rates.Wallace argued that hoteliers will have to review their business model should price hikes continue."Then we will definitely have to look at our business model and review our pricing and a lot of the things that make us profitable. It is really concerning and we are watching it closely," he said.The timing of the war could not have been worse, he said, coming on the heels of the pandemic which, while it appears to have abated, is not over. However, he believes the tourism industry will weather this latest storm."This is the worst time that this could actually happen because we are still recovering from the pandemic. So, it is not looking good in that respect, but we are confident that, if there is a way for us to survive, we will find that way," said the chamber president.Meanwhile, Wallace has welcomed Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke's provision of $677.45 million for agriculture and community tourism enterprises to benefit from capacity-building exercises and the provision of seedlings and chemicals under the Rural Economic Development Initiative II.The money was provided in the 2022/23 Estimates of Expenditure to facilitate these and other interventions in the new fiscal year.Wallace, who strongly believes in community tourism, has described the initiative as a positive move, noting that this is one way of touching the lives of Jamaicans and building the economy."I believe that this is one area of tourism that we need to move into because having all the large all-inclusive is great and creates employment and so forth, but the more community tourism we have where tourists intermingling and touching the lives of regular Jamaicans out there, the more Jamaicans will embrace tourism. Because they will see the effects and earning power of tourism and those monies, benefits, will stay in the community because a lot of the money that comes in for the all-inclusive are repatriated," Wallace said.