Bartlett lauds Tourism Service Excellence finalists
TOURISM MINISTER Edmund Bartlett has lauded the contribution of the finalists who will vie for the coveted award of national champions in the Tourism Service Excellence Awards (TSEA) on March 30.
The TSEA, which is in its sixth staging, was created by the Ministry of Tourism and is implemented annually by the Tourism Product Development Company Limited. The awards seek to recognise and reward tourism entities and individuals that have consistently provided exemplary service in the tourism industry.
“Sixty per cent of the value of the visitor experience is service, and it is because of your service to the sector that we were able to, last year, break another record in terms of arrivals and earnings by welcoming about 4.32 million visitors and securing approximately US$3.3 billion.
“So service for us is not a reference, but service is what we do, and in tourism, he who does it the best gets the most,” said Bartlett.
Nineteen finalists are set to contend for the award of national champions in the TSEA come March 30. The finalists, 10 of whom represent organisations and nine, the individual category, were selected from the six resort areas of Jamaica. One hundred and seven nominations were received this year from the major subsectors of the tourism industry, from which 50 semi-finalists were shortlisted and further narrowed to decide the final 19 contenders for the major awards and prizes.
Bartlett added: “Our phenomenal arrivals and earnings last year helped us to employ 120,000 people directly and another 250,000 indirectly. This enabled us to contribute close to J$450 billion to the GDP. In fact, 22 per cent of the earnings or the revenue that went into GDP came from tourism.
“We could not have done it without the exceptional service of our tourism workers, and these 19 finalists represent workers who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to ensure our visitors experience service beyond expectation.”
Bartlett also underscored the importance of rewarding tourism entities and individuals for their contribution to the tourism sector and the impact they continue to have on visitors to the island, which has resulted in an impressive 42 per cent in repeat business – this represents the highest percentage in the region.
He recognised as well the importance of the service excellence awards programme, which acknowledges, celebrate,s and showcases service.
The finalists for the 2018 TSEA are Beaches Negril, The Tryall Golf & Country Club, Ultimate Freedom Bed & Breakfast, The Joy Spence Appleton Estate Rum Experience, Half Moon Hotel, Deja Resort, Miss T’s Kitchen, Jamaica Inn, VIP Attractions, and El Sol Vida from the organisation category. From the individual category and Shenade Quarrie of Sandals Negril, Yanike Brown of Beaches Negril, Coleen Powell-Gordon of Jakes Treasure Beach, Kingsley George Blake of Round Hill Hotel, Conroy Thompson of Half Moon Hotel, Paul Norman of Dolphin Cove Jamaica, Nardia Angus of Golden Eye, Duane Phillips of Knutsford Court Hotel, and Caroline Bonner of VIP attractions.