WESTERN BUREAU:
THE GLEANER'S newest publication 'Hospitality Jamaica', which hit the streets yesterday, was warmly received by a number of major players in the tourism sector at its official launch at the Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay, St. James.
"This is a paper that Jamaica needs a paper that the tourism industry welcomes," said businessman Godfrey Dyer, the president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourism Association (JHTA). "It will afford us an opportunity to tell the world that Jamaica's tourism is alive and doing well."
In explaining the concept behind the new bi-monthly publication, which will also appear on the Gleaner Company's website Go-Jamaica, Karin Cooper, The Gleaner's corporate affairs manager, said it was yet another attempt by the newspaper to satisfy an urgent need that exists in the society.
WEEKLY PUBLICATION
"The Gleaner is constantly re-inventing itself to remain relevant as we seek to address the needs of our readers," Mrs. Cooper told yesterday's gathering, which included Alec Sanguinetti, the director-general of the Caribbean Hotel Association, Dennis Morrison, chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board and Carole Guntley, director-general in the Ministry of Tourism. "When we get the support we expect from the tourism sector it will hopefully become a weekly publication."
Mr. Morrison, who was the guest speaker at the launch, drew reference to an article in the publication that spoke to the unsavoury impact of crime on tourism. According to him, Hospitality Jamaica should keep that sort of news in the faces of decision-makers so that they may realise that, "if allowed to continue, crime is going to retard the industry."
Hospitality Jamaica consultant Ken Kennedy said that "The Gleaner is trying to produce something that is of great interest to the people in the industry, a product that people outside of the industry will also find interesting."
In embracing the publication, Richard Whitfield, the managing director at the Half Moon Hotel, described Hospitality Jamaica as an asset to the industry and a vehicle through which tourism players can now reach out to their market. "It will offer the players the opportunity to get their voices, comments and ideas out to the public," said Mr. Whitfield. "A publication like this was well needed and we are happy that it is now here."
Hospitality Jamaica, co-ordinated by communications expert Janet Silvera, will appear as a Wednesday pull-out every two weeks free with The Gleaner.
