THE Margaritaville Caribbean Group is seeing a noticeable increase in the number of African American customers at its restaurants, a phenomenon Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett puts down to the sense of ‘smaddiness’ the demography feels when vacationing in Jamaica.

“There’s been a phenomenon since COVID. We have attracted a much higher level of disposable income black American customers that we’ve never seen before in Jamaica, and they are spending,” Ian Dear, chairman and CEO of the Margaritaville Caribbean Group, told the Jamaica Observer in a recent interview.

“That market segment is growing, and they are not only coming to hotels. They are also coming for experiences outside the hotels and they are coming and spending money,” Dear added.

The trend Dear said he is seeing in his restaurants was confirmed by Bartlett as being widespread, though the minister said it would be hard to give numbers because the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), the agency responsible for the worldwide tourism marketing and promotion of Jamaica, does not ask visitors to indicate ethnicity on surveys.

“However, visually, you can see it,” Bartlett told the Business Observer.

“The number of African American tourists coming to Jamaica has improved significantly.”

He said the JTB did a survey recently, targeting African Americans, and found they said they feel comfortable vacationing in Jamaica.

“They say they feel like human beings when they come here based on how they are treated. There is no discrimination. And they pointed out that they don’t feel harassed at all. It’s like they feel a sense of ‘smaddiness’ when they come here,” the minister added, recalling a term first coined by the late Ralston ”Rex” Nettleford, a Jamaican scholar and social critic, in reference to the sense of belonging and self-worth an individual feels in how he/she is treated, regardless of social or economic circumstances.

Bartlett said the African American tourists are also more willing to leave the hotels to interact with local communities and are driving business in and around resort areas.

Anthony Hewie, general manager of Margaritaville Ocho Rios, confirmed that observation.

“Previously, we used to see nearly 60 per cent to 70 per cent of our guests being white North Americans,” Hewie told the Business Observer.

“However, since we reopened after the COVID lockdown, it is almost 50-50 between white and black Americans. Sometimes we have more African American guests than their Caucasian countrymen and -women,” he added.

As he spoke, he pointed to a tour group entering the restaurant.

“That’s something you can tell by just looking at the Chukka Caribbean tours,” Hewie said while pointing to the group.

“With Chukka, normally you would see a whole bunch of Caucasians, but now it is almost 50-50,” he continued.

Hewie’s boss, Ian Dear, said when it first became noticeable that more African Americans were patronising his restaurants, the management thought it was due to the demography deciding to use stimulus monies to take vacations.

“Originally we thought it was due to the stimulus cheques they were getting, but we are realising it is way beyond that because the spending has continued and the stimulus cheques are done,” Dear said.

The stimulus cheques Dear refers to are monies the US Government paid to households impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in three rounds between March 2020 and March 2021. Under the stimulus programme officially called the Economic Impact Payment, the US Government paid out about US$814 billion in financial relief to its citizens.

The strength of the US job market is also driving the vacationing and spending. For restaurants like Margaritaville, it is also leading to gradual changes in the make-up of the menus, mainly in terms of the volumes of certain items served.

“Even the way these people order from our menu, you see the change,” Hewie pointed out. “When the African Americans are around, they try more Jamaican food. They also order a lot of chicken wings,” he said.

But he noted that the restaurant is unable to meet some of the orders for chicken wings because it is not as available now as it was before the pandemic.

“There is just a massive shortage of chicken wings. We can’t keep up with the demand. We did not have this problem with chicken wings before COVID. Sometimes, two weeks out of every month we have none. Before that we would only run out once in a while,” he said.

He admits, however, that the African American customers are sometimes a little more particular with their orders, forcing staff to adjust, be more open minded and focused.

“We speak to our staff as to how to deal with them because they are a little more picky, and we exercise more patience with them.”