By Paul A. Reid, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU
JASON HENZELL, the Chief Executive Officer of Jakes in St Elizabeth; Anthony Jolly, the head grounds man at Tryall Beach, Golf and Tennis Resort; and Skywritings Magazine were the toast of the awards, at Saturday night's closing session of the 42nd Annual General Meeting of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) held at the Wyndham Rose Hall.
Voting for each category was made by individual hoteliers and in each of the six chapters of the JHTA islandwide.
Henzell won the award for Hotelier of the Year, Jolly took home the award for the Hotel Worker of the Year, while Skywritings, the in-flight magazine of Air Jamaica, won the Abe Issa Award for Excellence.
Henzell told The Gleaner afterwards that he was "delighted to win the award, as it would set a good example for the small players in the industry," that they can strive for big things and can compete against the larger properties in that regard.
On a personal note, he said that he was "honoured to win the award" as he hoped the 10-year-old 29-cottage establishment on the south coast will set the standard in the industry.
Jakes, which saw ground being broken recently for four additional rooms, was voted as "Officially the coolest place to stay in the world" by the London Evening Standard and has received glowing tributes in a number of international publications, including Travel and Leisure magazine, the Tatler, Vogue, Wallpaper magazines. The recent Calabash literary festival, that was hosted there recently, received a full front spread on the Arts page of the New York Times.
The 42-year-old Jolly, who has been working at Tryall for 21 years starting as a gardener, thanked those who voted for him saying that he was happy that hotel workers were being recognised.
He received a number of awards including, gift baskets from Red Stripe, J. Wray And Nephew and Grace, Kennedy; a $10,000 gift certificate from Courts Jamaica Limited; a $10,000 cheque from the JHTA; $25,000 from the In-Bond Merchants Association; an Alfex watch from Swiss Stores; and return tickets for two to either Antigua, Barbados or St Maarten from BWIA.
IMAGE
The Abe Issa Award is given to individuals, groups and entities who have significantly contributed to the tourism industry by promoting the reputation and image of Jamaica as a tourist destination. The award was collected by publisher, Tony Gambrill, editor Odette Dixon and Creative Director, Mark Weinberger.
Meanwhile, there were awards in five other areas, plus a special posthumous award to the late Paul Emile Redt, the 1995 JHTA Hotelier of the year. Mr. Redt, who passed away in February this year at age 58, was described in a citation as "A man of boundless energy." It added that he left his stamp of excellence in every resort at which he has served. "His achievements reflect not only a brilliant aptitude for the hospitality industry, but the gift of taking leadership roles in every community in which he lived and worked."
Shell Gas won the Allied Members Service Awards for Purveyor of the year; Montego Bay-based Jamaica Tours Limited won the award for Local Transportation; Chukka Cove won for Attraction of the year while Air Jamaica was once again voted the Best International Airline.
