Manufacturer praises hotels that buy Jamaican and build Jamaica

One of Jamaica’s major manufacturers of hospitality and tourism supplies is singing the praises of hotels which have, over the years, made it a standard operational policy to purchase goods, both edible and non-edibles, that are made in Jamaica.

Harvey Lyn of Kingston-based Perry’s Manufacturing says tourism dollars keeps businesses like his afloat and allows the industry to have an impact even beyond the communities in which the hotels are located. According to Lyn, the efforts of these hotels to invest in local linkages and integrate themselves into the local economy has helped many persons from some of even Kingston’s most depressed areas to benefit from tourism.

“It’s important for the hotels to try and purchase things made in Jamaica. You can literally see the tourist dollars move from Rose Hall to Hagley Park in Kingston and the area surrounding it, impacting lives and generations,” he told Hospitality Jamaica.

“I’ve watched, over the years, team members lives changed where the ladies who have been working here for a while, their children are now doctors, working in the IT department at banks, becoming pilots. All this is possible because of the hotels who make it their policy to try and purchase non-edible and edible things locally … it is very important for the hotels to support Jamaica, buy Jamaican. It shouldn’t be any other way,” Lyn said.

Perry’s started out as manufacturers of uniforms in 1975 and a decade later, ventured into the production and distribution of a wide range of linen products for beds, baths, tables, and kitchens, as well as apparel for chefs in, but not limited to, the hospitality sector.

One prime example of tourism’s positive effect on communities and Jamaicans far removed from Jamaica’s tourism meccas, Lyn says, is Prunella Scott, a seamstress from Kingston’s inner city who started out at Perry’s as an office attendant, went to garment-sewing school and then moved gradually up the ranks to seamstress.

“When I started as an office attendant, I later went to school and now I am a seamstress. I started sewing napkins, pillowcases and sheets and now moved on to sewing jackets,” she said.

“Being at Perry’s is like a team, like a family, and I am so proud. From being a janitor, I pushed myself and sacrificed a lot to be where I am at today, even after my house burnt down,” she added.

Perry’s Manufacturing Company is a three-time Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association’s Purveyor of the Year awardee and is one of the leading distributors, manufacturers and exporters of hotel supplies in Jamaica and the Caribbean.

The entity is also an exclusive, authorised distributor of well-known brands of furniture and wares for kitchens, bars and dinner tables. Perry’s is also the exclusive, authorised distributor for Libbey’s glassware, ABOUKIR tableware, Coyabay outdoor furniture, and Bison cookware in Jamaica.