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Entertainment and Tourism

The story continues with the Jamaica Tourists Board selling a very good product but not maintaining its standards. We are all very concerned about getting visitors to our shores but less concerned about them once they arrive. We do provide beautiful accommodations and our foods are authentically ours. However the hardest service to provide is entertaining people from varied cultures with their different taste. It is however the most important part of a vacation, because you go on holiday to have fun. Which leads us to ask the basic question, is Jamaica a fun destination? Is it fun for people of all ages, race, sex or creed? If not how can we address it?

Jamaica is fun for the average person who wants to see the culture and geographical highlights of the tropics. There are many day tours that are all accessible through all the hotels. There is the rich and vibrant culture that is ever-present throughout the island and is quite unique, attractive and entertaining. It is fun for the average tourist who comes for relaxation and meeting people. It is clear that Jamaica boost some of the warmest, genuine and comical personalities in the world. The resorts have done well in satisfying the children as we have some of the best family resorts with adequate entertainment for the children.

Our problem, in this land of no problem, is that there are many tourists who do not want an eleven (11) ‘O’ clock curfew on vacation. Unlike us they do not have to return to work the next day…they are on vacation. It sometimes appears as if we entertain our guests bearing our limitations in mind, instead of working around them as the visitors truly don’t care. They came to Jamaica to have fun and will return if they are assured of fun. Most of the all inclusive boast ‘quality’ entertainment however it ends in every hotel at 11 ‘O’ clock. What they offer after, is a poorly maintained nightclub that does not compare to what the guests are used to back home, disc jockeys that play to suit their taste and little attractions, so they are normally poorly attended. Others will offer a piano bar and depending on the pianist or his mood it can be quite an experience. However how many nights can one go to the same nightclub or piano bar? Most of our guests are here for a week and would like when on vacation to have options for entertainment.

Most properties cannot go beyond eleven o clock because of their geographical restrictions or room location to entertainment areas. However I’m on vacation I don’t care about that. I want to have fun until I’m ready to go to bed. Thus it becomes necessary that we look at options to ensure that “when you come to Jamaica you feel alright”. It is not necessary to reinvent the wheel, we have so much more than our competition; geography, culture, people and reggae music. We need to get over our fear, because fear is captivity, and step up our security and give the guests the option of entertainment after 11 o clock.

We need to capitalize on the fact that Jamaica is the only destination that you can hear live music at every resort, pub or restaurant. We need to promote our festival, carnival and culture into the tourism product. The all inclusive hotels are not able or willing to dazzle our visitors with entertainment yet they are not willing to allow them to go beyond the gates of the resorts. Their problem is fear that the visitors will not be safe beyond the gates so we need to work on securing the resort towns. The idea is to create a tourist zone like they do in Cancun, Mexico and we police the area. Then we make this zone the entertaining attraction. We cannot let crime stop us from sharing the culture, vibe and beauty of our island. We equally should not let greed stop us either, as in Montego Bay, there are only a few places that enjoy promotion from the resorts. Our guests that are here need to see elaborate Jamaican showcases as one would see elsewhere but with our flavor and culture. 

The visitors should be allowed outside of the resorts for a few hours to experience the culture and vibe of Jamaican entertainment. The hotels would save on food and beverage during this period. We need to realize that a vacation is not as microscopic as we have been treating it. People come to Jamaica for the experience however the resorts have been treating the industry separate and apart from the island. The product that our industry giants have perfected is attractive but Jamaica is still a driving force why visitors come here. The latest idea that they came up with is to have our untrained entertainment coordinators who work all day, do feature presentations at nights to replace our cabaret performances. Or use a performer to work in each property every night for minimal wages. We need to aim at adding to our product in order to compete rather than taking away because of our limitations based on our greed and selfishness. When do we think of our guests or the product?

Jamaican showcases like the folk singers, the dance theatre companies or comedic showcases have never gotten a chance to showcase to our visitors due to budgetary restrains. The cabaret performers who in 1990 were earning $ja6000($us200) in 2006 are earning less and are being asked to lower their rates as ‘the hotels are not doing well’ yet on the other hand we hear how well tourism is doing. Cabaret performers who lowered their rates in September 2001 due to the World Trade center catastrophe are still working for the same salary although not even during September 2001 did the occupancy fall dramatically. There are very short spells when occupancies fall but never for an entire month and the salaries are never readjusted. Entertainers are not motivated in the hospitality industry as they are provided with poor working conditions and little to no respect. Most hotels do not have proper stage areas, proper changing facilities, adequate lighting and poor sound quality. It is especially sad when new hotels are built or renovations occur and these issues are not addressed, it is because the major players refuse to see the importance of entertainment to our visitors.

If we want to compete with destinations like Cuba, Bahamas, Puerto Rico and Mexico we need to improve our entertainment and attractions. It is time we get beyond the rooms and the food. When the sun sets and the visitors leave the beach they want to be entertained in fine style. The major players in the industry need to realize that our reggae music and entertainment has played an important role in attracting visitors to Jamaica. Entertainment in the all inclusive is treated like an expense we want to cut but it is an expense that creates returns in revenue. We need to accept that what we do in Jamaica is ‘Cabaret’ as we do not have Las Vegas budget in the resorts and look at perfecting this. The new acts need to be encouraged and motivated to improve the product. Most of our tourists appreciate the shows we present we just need to improve what we do. If the tourists have a good time they will return and they will tell people to come to Jamaica. If our annual calendar has entertainment events every month we can attract visitors to the island all year round, can rooms or food alone do this. Entertainment is important to tourism and it is time we realize this before more of our caliber entertainers move into other areas of employment.