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Alvin Jemmott - A Tourism Journey
August 01, 2022
Alvin Jemmott - A Tourism Journey
Reflecting on my career path has been a most humbling experience. It has caused me to reflect deeply on who I am, how I got here and where I came from. This type of reflection has also clarified in my mind exactly where I want to go, and it has laid a roadmap for how I will get there.
Of course one of the things that has been solidified for me is that no matter how good a person may be at what he or she does they can't accomplish major things in life without the assistance of others.
I obtained my first assignment as a hotel general manager 2001, and continued to manage hotels until 2018. This timeframe proved to be a very intense one, not only was the USA under attack during the horrible event of 911, but the tourism industry in Barbados also seemed to be under attack during these years. We had to deal with the most explosive increases in oil with prices moving as high as US$147.00 per barrel.
The cost of air travel increased exponentially and added insult to what was already a bad injury in relation to Barbados being perceived as high a priced destination.
During This same timeframe it seemed as if there was a new epidemic every year. Foot-in- mouth decease, Mad-cow decease was still around during that timeframe, SARS, and Dengue fever just to name a few. Needless to say I was faced with opportunity or disaster.
By 2006 I became president of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association and I also served as a director of the Barbados Tourism Authority. The industry was on edge, everything seemed threatening. We also had two major events coming our way as Barbados had bid for and gained approval to host the finals of the Cricket World Cup and the Would Cup of Golf both of which were scheduled for 2007. Our other economic driver were showing declines it was my belief that the livelihood of the people of Barbados depended in part on the decisions that I had to take and how I handled the situation.
My approach was to keep it positive and always engage the public of Barbados. As president of the BHTA I held regular press briefing and tried to get ahead of the stories rather than having to react to them.
In 2018 I launched Jemmott Hotels Management Inc. Jemmott Hotel Management Inc.
(JHM) is a private company incorporated under the Company's Act Chapter 308 of the Laws of Barbados, whose principal business is the marketing and management of hotel properties in Barbados and the wider Caribbean.
The directors and officers have over 75 years of combined hotel management, marketing and operational expertise and financials and operational management with a proven track record of hotel development and operations in Barbados.
Jemmott Hotel Management Inc. focus is to execute value added strategies and manage a local and regional portfolio of hospitality properties on behalf of investors.
I have also acted as a mentor for many young people mostly those studying tourism.
Today I am Senior Advisor for Young America Capital – Barbados. www.yacapital.com
With over forty years of hotel and tourism experience. A former President of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association and a past Director on the Board at Barbados Tourism Authority, I also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc.