Christopher Issa, owner of the Spanish Court Hotel in Kingston sat with me during the so called `lock down’ in Kingston, Jamaica and explained a thing or two. First and foremost, I was in Kingston from July 17 to cover the tenth anniversary of Caribbean Fashion Week. Each night hundreds converged on the National Indoors Sports Stadium for back-to-back fashion collections featuring designers from Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Haiti, the United Kingdom, the Bahamas and Belize. There was no sign of an emergency state or the doom and gloom plastered on the news stations. Every night there were after parties and most of the guests went on to dine at several of Kingston’s restaurants.

 

It was really incredible how a situation in one small area of Kingston affected the whole island. Even travel to the resort areas of Negril and Montego Bay were effected. In capital city of Kingston several hotel reservations were cancelled putting a huge damper on the business of Kingston. "We had 80 cancellations for one week, then we went from 80 reservations to 20, it was instant, it was low for two weeks and then it picked up to 80%. Last week it was 70%, now its slowly picking up. As a Kingstonian and a businessman, of course there is a lot of mixed emotions, but things are picking up," was how Mr. Issa explained the hit that they took with the situation.

 

Mr. Issa emphasized that as a citizen of Jamaica, where they were and what has happened, it will have a positive outlook. He referred to what has happened to Panama and other countries that still strive economically. "We were excited with a New York Times article that spoke of the nightlife in Kingston this past November, it was the tipping point for Kingston. In Kingston two new hotels were arriving, but they were put on hold. We dream of a day when Kingston becomes a thriving city. Tourist - yes! But good for even business persons. Hopefully, there will be new hotels and there would be a positive comeback for Kingston and Jamaica. We feel that Kingston and Jamaica has so many things going for it"

 

Taking about publicizing the sensational, Mr. Issa mentioned the media term of `If it bleeds - it reads’. "It’s no longer a cat strangled in a tree making the news, there is a tendency to make it more graphic to get people’s attention. We need to get the economic editors and business reporters down here. It involves something that says you really hurt people with your sensational reporting." He said that news should be reported as it is, for the greater good of humanity and not sensationalized.