JN Group supporting sustainable tourism
THE JN Foundation, an arm of the Jamaica National Group, has been supporting sustainable tourism through many projects it has undertaken during its almost three decades of operation.
“Guided by the ethos of the Jamaica National Group and using business as a force for good, we seek the most innovative and sustainable solutions to address the nation’s major social needs,” explained Saffrey Brown, general manager of the JN Foundation.
“Consequently, when we partner with communities and citizens to solve problems, we hold true to the fact that we are part of the solution the country seeks. But, most significantly, success, for us, is a model in which we strengthen and empower community members, so they can build and sustain their communities themselves,” she added.
Key among this sustainability is the Social Enterprise Boost Initiative (SEBI), a project of the JN Foundation, in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Through SEBI, the foundation worked with 21 entities to build capacity and customise their business
development services, designed to improve their profitability.
Brown pointed out that three of these entities – Montego Bay Marine Park in St James, Bunkers Hill Cultural Xperience in Trelawny and EducaTours JA in Kingston – were focused on sustainable tourism.
She also noted that prior to SEBI, the JN Foundation worked with the Junitavan Lagoon, an ecotourism attraction in Accompong, St Elizabeth. RESTORED LAGOON
“In recognition of its integral role in environmental sustainability and preserving the culture of the Accompong Maroons, the JN Foundation undertook a project to restore the lagoon to its former glory,” Brown pointed out.
The first phase of the restoration project, an excavation exercise, was aimed at bringing ecotourism and aquaculture to Accompong.
Other successful tourism projects, she said, included work done with the Beeston Spring Community Group in Westmoreland. Under that project, which was administered by the Member Advisory Councils (MAC) set up across the JN branch network, MACs select and advise about projects worthy of funding under the foundation’s mantra of innovating, inspiring and impacting.
The Beeston Spring community members were trained in culinary arts, sewing and housekeeping from a partnership with the HEART Trust/NTA. After graduation, several persons were employed in hotels and restaurants; and some started their own businesses.
Success, for us, is a model in which we strengthen and empower community members, so they can build and sustain their communities themselves.