Jamaica Celebrates Diaspora, Travel Partners & Media At Toronto Event

The Jamaica Tourist Board is a multiple winner of the TravelPulse Canada Readers’ Choice Award for Tourist Board of the Year. How do they do it? It helps to have friends. 

Sunwing Travel Group’s Dina Bertolo is flanked by the Jamaica Tourist Board’s Angella Bennett and Dan Hamilton. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)

Jamaica’s tourism promoters have a lot of friends in Canada, including a large and successful diaspora, major tour operators and travel advisor groups, travel trade media and — of course — the hundreds of thousands of Canadian travellers who have discovered the manifold joys of the Caribbean island destinatio

The JTB thanked some of those friends at an event last night at Toronto’s luxurious Hazelton Hotel.

“You have remained steadfast in your support,” Donovan White, Director of Tourism for Jamaica, told the audience. “Together, we have created a synergy that has propelled Brand Jamaica to new heights.”

Ensemble President Michael Johnson and SVP Marketing Shahla Lalani. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)

There were some familiar faces among Jamaica’s Canadian diaspora leaders attending the event, among them iconic rapper and producer Kardinal Offishall, CBC Toronto news host Dwight Drummond, Wes Hall, Chancellor of the University of Toronto, Donette Chin-Loy Chang, Chancellor, Toronto Metropolitan University. Kurt Davis, Consul-General of Jamaica in Toronto, was also on hand for the event.

CBC Toronto news host Dwight Drummond with TravelPulse Canada’s John Kirk. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)

The leadership of Canada’s outbound travel industry was also well represented, with guests including Sunwing Travel Group VP of Product Development Dina Bertolo and EVP Strategic Partnerships Eric Rodriguez, TravelBrands SVP Product & Commercial Elvi Cal and Ensemble president Michael Johnson and SVP Marketing Shahla Lalani.

TravelBrands exec Elvi Cal with the JTB’s Angella Bennett and Dan Hamilton. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)

White thanked members of Jamaica’s ‘diaspora of distinction,’ who have excelled in Canada, while also helping raise the profile of Jamaica as the “top destination for travellers seeking authentic experiences.”

The event was sponsored by The Pinnacle Jamaica, which is building an ambitious four-tower residential community in Montego Bay.

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