REGIONAL public relations manager at Beaches Boscobel Lyndsay Isaacs and Chukka Caribbean Adventures are the top winners in this year's Tourism Service Excellence Awards held at the Ritz-Carlton Golf & Spa Resort in Rose Hall, Montego Bay on Saturday night.

In addition to copping the national champion title, Isaacs, who has provided top-quality service to the hospitality industry for 25 years, also copped the resort area trophy for the Ocho Rios region while Chukka was also named regional resort area champion for Montego Bay.

An overwhelmed Isaacs told the Observer that she never expected to be recognised for something that she absolutely enjoys doing.

"This award means a whole lot to me and I am elated and excited because it is something that I never expected," she beamed. "I will continue to work hard and continue to demonstrate excellent service."

Daniel Melville Jnr, director of resort marketing at Chukka Caribbean, said his company was honoured to be bestowed with the national champion title.

"We will continue to strive to be number one as we have done," he told the Observer.

He said the company's ability to pay attention to detail and valuing everything about the guests were the factors that resulted in the attraction coming out on top.

The other regional resort winners are Andrew Gillings, general service man at the Jamaica Pegasus; Laurel Scarlett-France, server at the Ritz-Carlton; Julian Suckoo, spa therapist at Sandals Whitehouse European Village and Spa; and Franklyn Wallace, bartender at Couples Negril.

The other organisational winners are Mystic Mountain for Ocho Rios, Sandals Whitehouse European Village and Spa for the South Coast, Sandals Negril, Gee Jam from Portland and new kid on the block Spanish Court in Kingston.

There were, however, no losers as the 14 individual and 16 organisational finalists vying for the top spots discovered first-hand that excellent service reaps excellent rewards as they were treated to a taste of what they have provided guests throughout the years.

Dubbed the Oscars of tourism, the awards ceremony wined, dined and entertained the industry stars for their hard work with the same touch of high-class service that they have become accustomed to providing.

From the four-course meal, the exquisitely decorated Ritz-Carlton ballroom, through to the outstanding cabaret and dance performances, there was seemingly no expense spared in rolling out the red carpet for the annual event, now in its third year.

According to Godfrey Dyer, chairman of the Tourism Enhancement Fund, the major sponsor of the event, the funds used to sponsor this initiative is money well spent.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett said that the Tourism Service Excellence Programme (TSEP) embodies the very essence of service culture that distinguishes and separates Jamaica's tourism product from the competition in the marketplace.

Bartlett said that it is known throughout the world that the iconic attraction in Jamaica is the people and this, he added, is a clear indication that the service being given is exceptional and unexpected.

This, he said, plays a major role in Jamaica holding the enviable position of being the Caribbean destination with the highest number of repeat guests.

This excellent service, according to Bartlett, is now being challenged daily by destinations mushrooming across the globe as more countries turn to tourism for economic survival.

He argued further that technology has also changed the way service is provided and received.

"The market is knowing immediately and not after the visitor goes home, so the product is being evaluated by the minute," he said.

As such, he said, there is no scope for slippage in high touch service if Jamaica is to continue maintaining the high volume earnings from increased visitor arrivals.

And with the opening up of direct flights from South America as well as Moscow, Poland and France into Jamaica, Bartlett said the industry must be prepared to meet the varying needs of these visitors.

This new market of middle-class travellers, he said, will challenge service value and price.

"You will have to retrofit and retool to deal with these new markets... and we must be prepared to invest in building human capital of the industry," he said.

These new markets, he said further, mean that tourism will no longer be seasonal in Jamaica as visitors will be arriving all year round. This as South American countries experience their winter months during Jamaica's summer months.

Newly elected president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association Evelyn Smith said the people have always remained the centrepiece of the tourism product.

She urged tourism stakeholders to recommit themselves to ensuring excellence is nurtured, cultivated and demonstrated.

"Let us be motivated by the achievement of the nominees to create memorable moments for our guests," she said.

The individual national champion winner received a trophy, $175,000 cash prize, a Caribbean vacation for two to Antigua, Barbados and St Maarten, two first-class tickets on Caribbean Airlines and all-inclusive accommodations, tours and ground transportation.

The organisational top winner received a trophy, a Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines seven-day Caribbean cruise for two, an all-inclusive weekend for the organisation's employee of the year and a guest and two Team Jamaica Programme scholarships for employees of the organisation.

The resort individual winners received a trophy, $75,000, two all-inclusive weekends for two and complimentary passes for two to local attractions as well as a flip ultra video camcorder. Resort Area organisation winners received a trophy, a LIME TV phone for the general manager and an all-inclusive weekend for the organisation's manager and a guest.

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