JAMAICA’S first director of tourism and pioneer hotelier Ambassador John Pringle died at his home in London, England early yesterday morning, after ailing from Alzheimer’s for the past three years. He was 81.

Described as a trailblazer in the tourism industry, Pringle served as chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) and director of tourism between 1963 and 1967.

A leading hotelier in his day, Pringle established the Round Hill Hotel in 1951, which was known for attracting several prominent clienteles from across the globe and gained worldwide attention and recognition in TIME and LIFE magazines.

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, in a statement last night, said Jamaica is grateful for Pringle’s role in helping to establish the island as a worldwide tourism destination.

“His contribution has enabled the local tourism industry to reach the heights it has achieved and opened up new opportunities for more Jamaicans to participate in the country’s economic development,” said the prime minister.

Yesterday, hotel mogul and owner of the Sandals resort chain Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart hailed Pringle as one of the founding fathers who laid the foundation for Jamaica’s tourism.

“John was an enormous trailblazer and as first director of tourism he set up a structure at the Tourist Board at that time which has lasted until today,” Stewart said.

The work he did at Round Hill, Stewart added, made Jamaica in the ’60s the celebrity Mecca in this part of the world, hosting a slew of celebrities such as Princess Margaret, among many others.

Operator of the SuperClubs chain John Issa said that having worked with Pringle in the early 1960s he found him to be a most competent, bright and entertaining gentleman.

“He served Jamaica in many capacities and I think Jamaica and the tourism industry are poorer with his passing,” Issa said.

Former director and minister of tourism Anthony Abrahams described Pringle as a true and great Jamaican who loved all things Jamaican. “He loved the food, he loved the people and even when he went to England to the very end he was always preoccupied about Jamaica,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dennis Morrison, chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board, said he was saddened at the passing of Pringle, whom he said contributed a lot both to the private and public sectors. “His contribution was tremendous and I remember him with a great deal of fondness and respect,” he said.

Last year the JTB honoured Pringle as one of the trailblazers during their 50th anniversary celebrations.

In a statement issued yesterday, Tourism Minister Aloun Assamba said Pringle was responsible for laying the foundations of what has become a global fascination with “our island home”.

Said the minister: “At a time when Jamaica was barely one-year-old, this shrewd marketer saw the possibilities for progress, and believed that we could mature into a destination of choice by making the right choices ourselves.”

The minister said that at the time of his incumbency, the tourism portfolio was not yet at the stage where it was assigned full ministerial clout, and as such it was a make or break situation.

And Ambassador Herbert Walker, a former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, described Pringle as one with a lot of imagination and vision which helped in moving Jamaica’s tourism forward. “He had a sort of special extra dedication for developing and broadening the tourist product in Jamaica,” he said.

At the same time, Basil Smith, the director of tourism, said the astute Pringle sought to boost Jamaica’s tourism by strengthening the marketing capacity of the JTB with memorable advertising presence in regional newspapers and on mainstream North American television.

“He established the blueprint which still guides the use of the JAMAICA logo to this day,” Smith said in a statement.