Press Release – National Champions at the 8th Tourism Service Excellence Awards

KINGSTON, Jamaica (November 2, 2026) – The Joy Spence Appleton Estate Rum Experience and Marsha Wiles, a Customer Service Representative at Mystic Mountain, were crowned National Organizational Champion and National Individual Champion, respectively, at the 8th staging of the Tourism Service Excellence Awards (TSEA), held on Saturday, October 31, 2026, at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.

The two champions emerged from a field of 25 finalists – 13 individuals and 12 organizations – drawn from across Jamaica’s resort areas. They take the national titles from the 2019 awards cycle, succeeding the 2018 champions, Conroy Thompson in the individual category and the Half Moon Resort in the organizational category.

As National Individual Champion, Ms. Wiles received a J$100,000 cash prize compliments of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), a two-night stay for two courtesy of Couples Resort, VIP Attractions annual VIP cards, a Mystic Mountain Brawta ticket, dining and spa certificates, and a range of gift packages and baskets. The Joy Spence Appleton Estate Rum Experience, as National Organizational Champion, received six Team Jamaica training scholarships for staff, two tickets to the Treasure Beach Food, Rum and Reggae Festival, 10 entry passes to the Bunny Lee Studios Experience and gift baskets.

Presented by the Ministry of Tourism and the Tourism Product Development Company Limited (TPDCo) under the theme “The Chosen Gems of Jamaica,” the 8th edition of the awards belatedly honoured the 2019 finalists. The ceremony was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and by Hurricanes Beryl and Melissa, making the long-awaited evening as much a reunion as a recognition.

“Tonight is about appreciation of our finalists who have waited quite some time for this,” said Wade Mars, Executive Director of TPDCo, as he welcomed guests on behalf of the Board, management and staff. “As TPDCo marks 30 years of service, this celebration reminds us that our story is really a shared story.”

That resilience was a central theme of the evening. O’Brian Heron, President of the Jamaica Hotel & Tourist Association (JHTA), reflected on the industry’s response after Hurricane Melissa, which passed its one-year mark on October 28. “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, ladies and gentlemen, is not just resilience. This is reinvention.”

Before the national titles were announced, regional champions were named in both categories. Each regional winner received J$70,000 in cash from the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), along with hotel, dining and attraction certificates and other prizes. The regional individual champions were:

In the organizational category, the regional champions were:

The Joy Spence Appleton Estate Rum Experience, the South Coast’s regional champion, went on to claim the top organizational prize, while Ms. Marsha Wiles, the Ocho Rios regional champion, went on to take the national individual title.

The awards also introduced new categories this year. Leroy Miller was recognised in the Raftsman of the Year category, while the Craft category featured Tricha Rowe, Gloria Luke and Cinderella Badal Kerr.

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, OJ, CD, MP, who delivered the keynote address, linked the awards to the strength of Jamaica’s tourism product, noting that the destination’s 42 per cent repeat business has not come only from fine physical products. It has come, he said, “because we have managed the human capital within tourism in an exemplary way.”

“That’s service from the heart,” Minister Bartlett said. “That service is not replicable by anyone else, because it is only coming from you. Unique to you.” Celebrating service, he stressed, “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.”

Mr. Heron, speaking directly to the finalists, said the impact of great service reaches well beyond the hotel lobby. “Guests do not go home and talk about the lobby, they go home and talk about you,” he said. “Every time you go an extra mile, you are doing it for a family you may never, ever meet.”

He also urged the industry to keep investing in its people as technology reshapes the guest experience. “No machine will ever make a guest feel at home the way a Jamaican can,” Mr. Heron declared. “The tools will change. The heart of the work we do will not.”

Closing his remarks with a message to every finalist, he added: “Most of what you do happens when nobody is watching. But tonight, we’re watching and we’re so proud of you. So, when you leave here tonight, leave proud.”

 

Marsha Wiles (centre), Customer Service Representative at Mystic Mountain, is all smiles as she poses with the National Individual Champion award alongside Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett (left), and TPDCo Chairman Ian Dear at the 8th Tourism Service Excellence Awards, held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre on October 31.

Executive Director of TPDCo, Wade Mars (left), presents the National Organizational Champion award to Janine Hanson Taylor, Visitor Centre Manager, who accepted on behalf of the Joy Spence Appleton Estate Rum Experience in St. Elizabeth, at the 8th Tourism Service Excellence Awards.

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Marline Stephenson Dalley 

Coordinator, Corporate Communications and Community Awareness

Tourism Product Development Company Limited 

Email: marline.stephenson@tpdco.org 

Tel: 876 550 0733