Appleton Estate Rum Experience wins top tourism award

WESTERN BUREAU:

Barely seven months after reopening its doors following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa, the Joy Spence Appleton Estate Rum Experience, in St Elizabeth, has emerged as Jamaica’s National Organisational Champion.

The prestigious recognition comes just over a year after the Category 5 hurricane battered St Elizabeth, forcing the world-renowned attraction to suspend operations for nearly six months while extensive restoration work was undertaken to return the facility to its premium standard.

The attraction, which reopened on April 14, was crowned during last Saturday night’s eighth staging of the Tourism Service Excellence Awards (TSEA) at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, in St James.

Marsha Wiles, a customer service representative at Mystic Mountain, captured the National Individual Champion title.

The Joy Spence Appleton Estate Rum Experience and Wiles emerged victorious from a field of 25 finalists, comprising 13 individuals and 12 organisations, which were drawn from Jamaica’s resort areas.

For Appleton Estate, the award represents another milestone in its recovery journey, which saw employees returning to work post repairs to the infrastructure, allowing for the resumption of visitor experiences after months of uncertainty.

During an April 23 visit to the attraction, as part of the Ministry of Tourism’s South Coast Confidence Tour, renowned Master Blender Joy Spence spoke of the extensive efforts undertaken to restore the facility.

“We had to make everything right, not just for our staff, but for the visitors coming here, because this is a premium experience and we wanted to maintain that,” she said.

Spence welcomed the reopening of the attraction because of its significance to the employees and the surrounding communities that depend on tourism.

“We are happy that everybody’s back at work, and we can once again take our visitors through all the stations on our tour,” she said.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, who toured the facility shortly after its reopening, described its transformation as evidence of the resilience of Jamaica’s tourism industry.

At the time, he praised the restoration efforts, describing the attraction as looking “brighter, better, far more exciting and alluring”.

Bartlett said the recovery demonstrated Jamaica’s ability to rebound from one of the most destructive hurricanes in its history and restore confidence among international visitors.

Addressing the awards ceremony, Bartlett said Jamaica’s competitive advantage in tourism was rooted in the exceptional service delivered by its people.

He said the country’s 42 per cent repeat visitor business was not simply the result of its hotels, beaches and attractions, but reflected the quality of its human capital.

“That’s service from the heart. That service is not replicable by anyone else, because it is only coming from you. Unique to you,” said Bartlett, who emphasised that celebrating outstanding service was essential to sustaining Jamaica’s reputation as a leading tourism destination.

“Celebrating service is not something we’re doing because we want to make a show or a PR activity. It’s something that is endemic in the product itself,” he said.

The Joy Spence Appleton Estate Rum Experience first secured the South Coast Regional Organisational Champion title before capturing the national award.

The national prize included six Team Jamaica training scholarships, tickets to the Treasure Beach Food, Rum and Reggae Festival, attraction passes and gift baskets.

O’Brian Heron, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, used the occasion to salute tourism workers who had demonstrated extraordinary commitment in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.

“We saw team members show up for each other, clearing debris, checking on neighbours, getting properties ready to welcome the world again to Jamaica, many of them while dealing with damage to their own homes,” he said. “This is not just resilience. This is reinvention.”

Wiles, who represented the Ocho Rios resort region, received $100,000 from the Tourism Enhancement Fund, a two-night hotel stay for two and several other prizes.

The ceremony, which was held under the theme, ‘The Chosen Gems of Jamaica’, recognised finalists from the 2019 awards cycle, whose presentation had been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent hurricanes.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com