ACCORDING to Gordon “Butch” Stewart, the disappointment that comes up most often in visitor surveys of their vacation experience in Jamaica was the poor quality of the entertainment.

Speaking on Independent Talk with Ronnie Thwaites (POWER-106 FM), the chief owner of the global Sandals hotel brand and Air Jamaica (as well as this newspaper) did not offer specific reasons for the unacceptable entertainment offerings.

Clyde McKenzie of Shocking Vibes Productions and a columnist, the artiste management and promotion company, suggested an answer. What passes for entertainment in most of Jamaica’s hotels, was a stale, unappetising product that had become “fossilised” over time.

McKenzie was a guest on the Breakfast Club (HOT-102) where he and some big players in the music and entertainment industry were lamenting with co-hosts Anthony Abrahams and Beverley Anderson-Manley that tourism interests were consistently missing opportunities to use the talent that abounds in the Jamaican people especially in music and dance.

Craig Colman, president of Atlantic Records, said he could not understand why the persons responsible for marketing Jamaica as a tourism destination did not make use of big name dancehall artistes like Sean Paul in their television advertising. So far, he said, his efforts to deepen the connection between the music business and corporate Jamaica have not borne fruit.

Atlantic, through its muscle in international music distribution and marketing, and its partnership with VP Records, the New York-based Jamaican company that has been the driving force in promoting Jamaican music in the United States, is well placed not only to take Jamaican artistes to new heights but to use that leverage to support tourism.

The value of a Sean Paul (Atlantic/VP) as a pitch-man for Jamaican tourism is inestimable as his reach extends beyond our primary tourisms markets in the United States and the United Kingdom to other markets like the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium and Denmark where his single, Get Busy, topped the charts in the summer.

As one tourism industry insider told me this week: “The kids who listen to his music will not only want to come here for Spring Break, but will also send their parents”.

After listening to the two programmes, aired within a few days of each other last week, a question kept playing over and over in my head: Why the disconnect? How is it possible that a country that has gifted the world with its music and popular culture and boasts a world-class National Dance Theatre Company can fail to meet the entertainment expectations of visitors?

The questions are pressing as only last week the Cabinet reaffirmed at its retreat in Ocho Rios that tourism is the engine of growth. And finance minister, Dr Omar Davies, predicts that the sector will drive economic growth for this fiscal year to upwards of three per cent.

It is generally acknowledged that Reggae/dancehall music is the most identifiable Jamaican brand throughout the world so it pulls people here. So, why is it such a scarce commodity when they get here? Why isn’t the music better integrated into the tourism product?

My understanding is that the answer, in part, has to do with the business model of the music industry. Big name artistes like Beenie Man, Elephant Man, Bounty Killer or any of other leading artistes can command large fees to perform all over the world. The only comparable opportunities in Jamaica are the seasonal stage shows that require massive audiences to make the business work.

This model, therefore, cannot apply to any single hotel property. What could work are regular shows at suitable venues in, or near resort areas, that tourists could share with Jamaicans once we get the vibes right.

If the government’s recent announcement of tax and other incentives for investment in attractions and entertainment, similar to those that apply to hotel construction, attracts private sector players, then we could see new venues emerging. This could lay the foundation for continuous high quality shows where visitors could experience some of our best performers in music, dance and other art forms.

Ronnie Thwaites, in the discussion with Stewart, pointed to Cuba’s legendary Tropicana show as an example of combing a country’s rich musical and cultural traditions into an unforgettable experience for visitors to Havana and wondered why we have not yet developed a Jamaican equivalent. Indeed, why not?

And there is a whole other level of good entertainment possibilities besides high-priced stars.

Each year, the festival movement, as well as private talent search efforts, unearths talented young people in the performing arts, especially music and dance. And there are the thousands of youth dreaming of the DJ route from poverty, violence and hopelessness.

So, there’s creative talent aplenty. What’s missing are the policies and actions to integrate tourism with our entertainment and cultural industries. For that to happen there will have to be a huge mind shift for policy-makers, business leaders and among artistes and entertainers themselves.

Transforming music and entertainment from the margins of the under-class and inner city to the economic mainstream of New Kingston and the boardrooms of corporate Jamaica and luxury hotels is no easy task given the social distance between most of the originators of the music and official society.

At a symposium, Transforming Values and Attitudes, held at the University of the West Indies earlier this year, some of the challenges were addressed.

On one side were deep concerns about gang-themed or sexist lyrics, anti-social values, the use of expletives on stage, or the celebration of ‘bling-bling’ culture, which cannot be wished away.

Equally, Jamaica has had a long history of the ruling elites undervaluing the cultural and other contributions of the disadvantaged social classes. From Miss Lou through Bob Marley to Sean Paul, ‘iconic’ status only comes after international validation.

So, the transformation is not easy, but it is absolutely necessary. A start has been made with the private sector-led ‘cluster competitiveness project,’ which has identified music and entertainment as one of the three economic clusters in which Jamaica has a chance to compete in the world. (The other two are agribusiness and tourism). ontheFRONTIER, (sic) the US-based consultants carrying out the project have been meeting with leaders of both the corporate as well as the entertainment sectors. We will not know the outcomes until the process develops further.

Meantime, media – as sources of pubic information and debate and as businesses — have a crucial interest in the way the process develops.

Radio and television, in particular, are integral to the development of the careers of the artistes. Beyond that, the artistes provide the basic material for most of the programme content. This includes our newspapers which, among other things, now devote pages to reviewing music videos. The ‘virtuous’ circle is completed by tourism which provides work for entertainers and advertising revenue for media. It’s a question of having the smarts to connect the dots.

Claude Robinson is Senior Fellow in the Research and Policy Group, Mona School of Business at UWI. kcr@cwjamaica.com