Letter of the Day - Damage control is futile

THE EDITOR, Sir:

THE BOTTLE-THROWING display that spoiled Reggae Sumfest and ruined the Tourist Board's effort at quick damage control was a blessing in disguise. Here's why.

If you are going to try damage control with a 'feel good' event where you pay a few dozen journalists to 'come and see the other Jamaica', how could you dare to have on the stage people who are not KNOWN to be good ambassadors for Jamaica? By associating itself with a show where it did not control this aspect of the performance, the Tourist Board showed a level of amateurism that is worrisome.

Second, the people throwing bottles must have known there were hundreds of visitors around. Didn't they care that the bottles would reinforce the recently created image (abroad) of Jamaica as a country "out of control"? Didn't they care that the loss of tourist dollars would eventually hurt their own cause?

Evidently, they did not care. Therefore, while we are falling over ourselves to do damage control abroad, let's recognise that probably our biggest challenge is to sell these 'ordinary people' on the proposition that they are hurting themselves by behaving in that manner, especially in front of visitors. We may be decades away from selling ordinary people on this proposition, I fear.

But until we can sell these people on that crucial proposition, what are we doing in the business at all? Anyone with an ounce of experience in this business knows that the quality of your people-to-people touching is the key to long-term success. And on this very issue, regardless of the facts, we are rapidly getting ourselves PERMANENTLY branded abroad as a "spoiled product".

It's time to start thinking about some other ways to earn foreign exchange than to invite foreign visitors to 'feel good' events where we cannot control the artists nor the crowd. Wake up, Tourist Board. How about sponsoring some high-profile events INSIDE the ghetto for the benefit of the residents (not of tourists or foreign journalists)? How many scholarships for needy children are our big and talkative hotel managers sponsoring with loud fanfare so everybody can see? Before you try selling a good image abroad you will have to first sell a good one at home, so that people around trouble-makers will quickly show their disapproval of bad behaviour because they will regard your business as being THEIR business. When will we get there? My mother would say, "let us pray".

I am etc,

THEODORE MONK

tsmonk@eudoramail.com

121 Buell St, Ottawa

Ontario, Canada

Via Go-Jamaica

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