Ladies and Gentlemen, on behalf of the Chairman of the UDC K.D Knight, Chairman of the MBCC Board Mr. Andrew Azar, Board members, Ms. Dittie Guise and SMG I would like to welcome you all…..I am delighted to be with you today for the opening of JAMPRO’s Office here at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.
JAMPRO OPENING SPEECH, MONTEGO BAY CONVENTION CENTRE – DESMOND MALCOLM, GENERAL MANAGER URBAN DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
The Honourable Anthony Hylton, Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce
Honourable Minister Sharon Ffolks-Abrahams, Minister of State, Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce
His Excellency Ewan Corrodus, Custos of St James
His Worship Councillor Glendon Harris, Mayor of Montego Bay
Chairman Karl Samuda,
Ms. Dianne Edwards,
Ms. Carrole Guntley Brady,
Ladies and Gentlemen, on behalf of the Chairman of the UDC K.D Knight, Chairman of the MBCC Board Mr. Andrew Azar, Board members, Ms. Dittie Guise and SMG I would like to welcome you all…..I am delighted to be with you today for the opening of JAMPRO’s Office here at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.
This is a happy occasion, and it takes place at a hopeful moment. The MBCC is experiencing growth, and the prospects for next year are also bright. To this end, good partnerships are critically important; the opening of JAMPRO’s Office in our facility shows what can be achieved when tourism partner work together. And we hope that this integration will lead to a closer co-operation and engender a more meaningful working relationship.
The idea of the JAMPRO office relocating to the Convention Centre was incubated earlier this year, when the Montego Bay Convention Centre met with JAMPRO to discuss partnering to attract more international business to the Centre. With the assistance and support of the UDC we are now pleased to see this important milestone reached with the opening of the JAMPRO office today.
This is truly an exciting day… Today, the Montego Bay Convention Centre and JAMPRO are officially joining forces that will take us one step closer to making our goal of increasing market share, a reality. We will actively work together to attract more meetings and conventions to the island. And as a result we expect that this will create spin-off benefits for our local businesses such as airlines, hotels, restaurants and tour operators.
The Tourism Industry has lobbied for a Convention Centre for several years and I am happy to see that this perseverance has paid off. MBCC is also aiming to host the Jamaica Tourist Board offices, the opening is set for October 2014 and we are eagerly looking forward to that day.
Let me conclude by thanking all of you for the roles that you have played in making this venture possible. To UDC and the Board of the Montego Bay Convention Centre who have supported all of our endeavours; to Dianne Edwards and Mark Thomas who have captured the vision; and to Conrad Robinson and his team who have worked tirelessly to ensure the set up of the offices and most of all, to Dittie Guise and her team who has made it all possible.
As I said at the outset, this is a happy and a hopeful occasion, and we have you to thank for it.
Thank you all for coming and enjoy the rest of your evening.