Personality of the Year – Christopher Issa
CHRISTOPHER ISSA is a past student of Campion College and holds a BA in economics from Holy Cross College and a MBA in finance from University of Chicago. A commercial real estate developer, Issa became a hotelier in 2009 when he converted the former Spanish Court Shopping Centre into the Spanish Court Hotel. In the last years under his leadership, the Spanish Court Hotel has received a number of awards for its design and service.
It was voted the third trendiest hotel in the Caribbean in the TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Awards 2012. The Hotel received the World Travel Awards – Best Business Hotel in Jamaica for the five years. Spanish Court Hotel was also awarded the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce Best of Chamber Medium-sized Business in 2012.
In 2016, Spanish Court was voted the best hotel in the Caribbean by Expedia VIP members. In 2016, Issa purchased the former Breezes Montego Bay Hotel, next door to the Doctor’s Cave Bathing Club, which was extensively remodelled and opened on January 27, 2019. A month after, on February 27, 2019, USA Today named the trendiest hotel pools in the Caribbean for 2019 and The S Hotel main pool and sky pool were listed among the best. He has a strong interest in Jamaican culture and has published a number of books, including How to Speak Jamaican with Ken Maxwell, and Jamaica, the Land, The People.
He is also a former motorcycle racer and race car driver, and was champion driver of Jamaica in 1992.
A past president of the Rotary Club of Kingston and a past dean of the Consular Corps of Jamaica, he currently serves as the honorary consul of Slovakia in Jamaica.
Mr Issa is married to Kimberly Mais and has two sons and one daughter. On Saturday, November 16, he was recognised with the 2019 RJRGLEANER Hospitality Personality of the Year Award.