'Best of the best' at tourism awards
Published:Tuesday | March 20, 2018 | 12:00 AM
It was high fashion and camaraderie as the tourism industry celebrated the 'Best of the Best' in the sector at the Tourism Service Excellence Awards last Saturday night at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.
Staged by the Ministry of Tourism, TSEA honoured 10 individual finalists and 11 organisations representing four resort areas, namely, Montego Bay, Negril, Ocho Rios, the south coast and the capital city Kingston.
Having provided exceptional service, they were lauded by tourism minister Edmund Bartlett, as the greatest resource in an industry tagged the lifeblood of the people.
"The honourees this evening represent the crËme de la crËme in our sector, who make providing excellent service not just a practice, but a way of life," said Bartlett.
He was also toasted for his outstanding contribution and recognised for his latest accolade, 'Tourism Minister of the World', by a team of tourism officials.
Bartlett spoke about how surprised he was to hear Jamaica's name called in Berlin, Germany, recently, when the award was announced. "When they went around a room of over 50 countries and announced Jamaica, I was stunned."
He was, however, even more grateful to be recognised in his own country, by his own peers.
The event attracted the likes of chairman of the Tourism Enhancement Fund, Godfrey Dyer; chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board, John Lynch; Senator Don Wehby, group chief executive officer, GraceKennedy Limited; Dr Andrew Spencer, executive director, TPDCo., and Director of Tourism, Donovan White.