D.K. DuncanIN BETWEEN touring sections of hurricane-ravaged areas in western Jamaica last weekend, the Prime Minister found time to participate in the celebration of a significant milestone. Joining hundreds of Jamaicans and visitors (a.k.a. tourists) at the Half Moon Hotel in their 50th anniversary celebrations, he like others present might have also found time for some quiet reflections.
Although the weekend's focus was on Half Moon, the reflections on this milestone would have ranged across the entire tourist industry from its pre-independence beginnings to the present. P.J. Patterson would have become the People's National Party's (PNP's) first post-independence Minister of Tourism in 1972. This was less than four years after the Black Power riots. During that period one signature advertisement for Jamaica's tourism product overseas called for tourists to "Rent a Nanny". This did not go over well in the militant nationalism of the sixties. Coupled with the racial and class exclusivity associated with most of the product, resentment grew.
Three decades later just next door to the Half Moon, at the Ritz Carlton the vision statement of the entire staff is "Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen"!
SOCIAL BARRIERS
Half Moon's Managing Director Richard Whitfield may not have exhibited the classic dance hall routines but his "sense of purpose" was there as he moved effortlessly into Bob Marley's "One Love" surrounded by his Jamaican wife and members of a socially inclusive staff. Jason Russell's disco entertained the hardcore on the last night of the celebrations with music some of which would not have passed Torrington Bridge in the 1970s into uptown Jamaica. The Third World Band which preceded the disco's finest hours opened with "Mr. Reggae Ambassador". Indeed a fitting tribute to the giant steps the music has taken particularly as part of the tourism product. Professionalism and artistry combined to make "Ninety-six Degrees in the Shade" seem appropriate under the three-quarter moon in the skies over the hotel's shopping village. Staff members at all levels rocked alongside tourists and Montego Bay's citizenry as the evening's event confirmed that "the social barriers could break down".
BUY JAMAICAN
The 1972 Minister of Tourism, among others, might have recalled the changing nature of the cuisine. Resistance in some quarters to local components such as ackee and saltfish, bananas, fried dumplings etc. has for some time now given way to diversity. It is not likely that any hotel, guest house or villa exists in the country which does not include the Jamaican cuisine as part of its product. Now taken for granted, guests moved effortlessly as they enjoyed the varied offerings at food stations during the celebrations. The Prime Minister must have quietly whispered "mission accomplished" as he sat through Roberta Flack's rain-enhanced presentation on Friday night and Third World's blast on Saturday.
Many others present would have shared the "mission accomplished" sentiment. Immediate past President of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) Josef Forstmeyer and his successor Godfrey Dyer displayed no evidence that Hurricane Ivan would set back the accomplishments. Tourism Director Paul Pennicook knew he had succeeded a long line of directors who had made stellar contributions. He was now looking forward to January 2005 for the first hosting in Jamaica of the Annual Exposition of the Carribbean Hotel Association.
MINGLED
Representatives from the Grand Lido and Sandals Chain mingled with respect and solidarity as did top Public Relations Director in the Ritz Carlton chain Verona Carter, among other beneficiaries and producers of the Jamaica Tourism Product. Tourism Minister Assamba, State Minister McNeill mingled as did JLP Deputy Leader Horace Chang, MP Clive Mullings and Minister Pickersgill. Sea and sand, nature and adventure, all-inclusive, call it what you will, seem to be on a path of convergence. The growing respect across social classes, as well as the increasing integration of Jamaican cuisine, music and culture into this product can only contribute to its acceptance, stability and profitability.
Former Director and later Minister of Tourism Anthony Abrahams pointed to aspects of these changes during the Breakfast Club programme hosted by Half Moon during their celebrations on Friday morning. As Director of Tourism, he spanned the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP's) administration of the late '60s and the PNP's of the early '70s. He is well placed to enhance the reflections. One Love, One Heart.
A dental surgeon, Dr. D.K. Duncan is a former Cabinet Minister and general secretary in the PNP administration of the 1970s.
