My Jamaica Your Jamaica

THE WEEKLY GLEANER | DECEMBER 10 - DECEMBE R 16, 2020 | www.jamaic a-gleaner.com | I L OCAL MUSICIANS and entertain- ers who ply their trade inside the hotels say there is an intrinsic link between music and the hospi- tality sector which has become an important value-added component to tourism. They add that that there is every ev- idence to suggest that tourists make their travel decisions based in part on the quality entertainment provided by a resort, and that hoteliers, over the years, have seen the wisdom in pro- viding variety and making “that criti- cal investment in keeping their guests entertained”. “There is no doubt entertainment is and has been a critical component of the hotel industry,” sound engineer Mortimer Martin argues.“It is a serious pull factor and one of the main reasons why some hotels do better with repeat visitors than others.” Martin, who resides in Ocho Rios and has been plying the hotel circuit for over 30 years, says that, even before the COVID-19 pandemic, entertainment within the hotels has been among the top two popular offerings…alongside food…and has taken on an evenmore significant role with the advent of more hotels across the island. He says that a lot of personal bonds and lifelong friendships have been formed over the years with local mu- sicians and overseas guests, adding that “we are the people they will best remember on their way home”. “What COVID-19 has done is to slow things down for a lot our musician trail- blazers who have been doing the hotel circuit for years,” he adds. “I don’t think too many sectors have been hit as hard as the hotel sector, and that’s where many of us have been earning our bread. As it stands today, a lot of musicians have been sidelined because of the low occu- pancy levels in the hotels … and are pretty much taking a wait-and-see approach.” Robin Brown, lead guitar player for the Negril-based band‘Chaw Fire’, says the power and allure of local enter- tainment has been one of the main highlights within the resorts – day in and day out - and which have been greatly, underestimated over the years, where a lot of hotels could have been more successful “if they had simply taken time out to make that critical investment”. MARKETING STRATEGY “The more successful hotels have seen the importance of entertainment and the integral role it plays in their marketing strategy,” he adds. “The guests want more than the sand and the sea, and there is no other island in the Caribbean that can give the kind of quality entertainment … the reggae and the culture… that Jamaica brings to the table.” Falmouth resident James Thompson, who goes by the moniker ‘Fireman’, says that a lot of musicians owe their livelihood to the hotels and the fact “they have placed so much emphasis on entertainment”. “The guests will tell you that this is why they choose Jamaica … the en- tertainment and our island culture. “What’s being offered to guests by way of entertainment …during lunch and after dinner … can be found nowhere else but in Jamaica. It’s why the guests keep coming back. is not reflective of the island’s culture,” he adds. For his part, Lenford Richards, from the famed Jolly Boys Mento Band, says it should always be remembered that tourism started out with ordinary Jamaican musicians…”the little man who would sing about his old island home” and would go to the hotels to entertain guests“who would just keep yearning for more”. “In whatever we do, we can’t forget what took us to where we are … the mento bands and “the true pioneers” singing about Jamaica and our beau- tiful culture,” he adds. “While Jamaica is regarded by most as the holiday destination to enjoy fun in the sun on our beautiful white-sand beaches, it is also seen above all else as the home of Bob Marley and reggae music.” Entertainment - a great value-added product for hotel sector M Y JAMAICA, YOUR JAMAICA THE WEEKLY GLEANER | DECEMB 10, 2020 - JANUARY 9, 2021 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | MY JAMA ICA, YOUR JAMAICA 22