EPISODE 65 - JOHN LYNCH - Chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board wants you to come to JAMAICA!

John Lynch, Chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board talks with Angie about all that Jamaica has to offer for visitors. 

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hi, it's Auntie Ward. Ohmy gosh, thank you so much for
checking out my podcast today. Ijust got back from broadcasting Live in Jamaica
the beautiful sandals Ochi Resort. Itwas my very first trip to Jamaica.
The day we arrived, we hadthis incredible party on the beach at sandals
Ochi with just about every Jamaican cuisineyou could think of live entertainment. It

(00:25):
was so magical, and I metthe most amazing man who knows everything about
Jamaica, mister John Lynch, chairmanof the Board of Jamaica Tourism. And
when I told him it was myfirst visit to Jamaica, that led to
the most amazing conversation about all thatJamaica has to offer for your next vacation.

(00:46):
And I even was able to coaxout of him a true Jamaican jerk
chicken recipe. You don't know whatyou're a mission you now? Well,
welcome to Jamaica. Thank you somuch. Can you take me through something
for our listeners back home? Whatis the magic of Jamaica that draws people
here? We'll be here all night. However, it's the people, the

(01:08):
people and our culture. The welcomingistsof the Jamaica and people, and we
go from strength to strength or athletes, right, the entertainers starting with you
know, Harry Bella Fanti and goingto Bob Marley and on and on and
then the beauty, the place innatural beauty of Jamaica is just magnificent.

(01:29):
You go from the beautiful ocean whenyou're coming in to the mountains and the
waterfalls. It's just magical. Sofor you as a resident of Jamaica,
where are your favorite places to go? I'm not allowed to say. All
right, every every every we havewe've literally divided Jamaica. You arrived in

(01:55):
Montega Bay, that's looked on asone one destination. Then you come to
Aucherius, where you are Port Antonio, which is absolutely beautiful where tourism really
started, right And most of thefilms have been filmed in Jamaica have been
done in Port Antonio, and thenKingston where I actually lived in king Kingston
is the capital. Let's say it'sa happening place, yes, and then

(02:19):
Mandibale to the south coast, right, and they'll kill me if I didn't
mention the south coast, which Ididn't, But you know, a lot
of villas, a lot of guesthouses, nice beaches, and then the grill,
which is seven miles of white sandbeach and goes on and on,
which is really very casual. Well, what I have realized also is that
you are not allowed to be ona diet if you come to Jamaica.

(02:43):
I forgot about the food. Yes, the food we've seen is so fabulous.
No one that I look like this. You know, I lived in
America for twenty five years and Icame home and I blew up like this.
What are some of the cuisines thatpeople back home don't know? What
they're missing here in Jamaica. Iguess everybody's familiar with the jerk, So

(03:07):
let me talk about that, becauseyou know, Americans, we try really
hard to do that on our own. What are we doing wrong? It's
quite easy. I can do it. Yeah, No, it's really quite
easy. Some sauce when you're leavein Okay, mix the sauce with some
white red wine right and overnight theweather. It's poor card chicken right in

(03:28):
the fridge, and then put iton the grill. You know, you
had me at red wine with thesauce and it's you know you're typically twenty
four hours, yes, but thelonger the better. Even forty eight is
good. So that is one ofthe keys too, is how long you
want to do it at home.But then then there's much more complicated thing,

(03:50):
the woods and all of that.You don't want to get it.
Listen, I can barely microwave.You have to come to Jamaica for that,
exactly. I'm fine coming back justfor the jerk. You know,
we have Oudoba, Atlanta. Wehave six or seven flights a day,
so yeah, you can dent theflights five times a day. Yes,
I can get here pretty quickly.Actually, I just popped in an audiobook

(04:12):
just a couple of ours. Yeah. Absolutely. And that's the great thing
about Jamaica too. You guys havedone so much. You have direct flights
now coming in from Miami into theairport here that's just fifteen minutes away from
this particular resort that we're at.We have these hobs, yes, ma'am
is one. Then you have Charlotte, and you have Atlanta. And let

(04:33):
me see if I'm forgetting New Yorkobviously, right, and so it's easy
to get to Jamaica. I thinkJamaica is the most connected destination within the
Caribbean. From America, we getseventy five close to seventy five percent of
our business comes from America. WhenI was in the airport headed this way,

(04:53):
there were people on my flight who'dbeen here many times, and all
they could do was rave about howthey love coming back, how they feel
so welcome, how the people hereare so kind and welcoming when they come.
I think forty five percent of ourvisitors come back, yes, which
is amazing, But it's true.The people is probably the most important part

(05:14):
of our products, I agree.And the culture and the music. We
just saw some incredible dancing and singersand performers here. Talk a little about
that. Well, you know,I go back to the day of Harry
Bellafante and Deo and theo and talking, and the tradition has gone on.
Jamaica has traditionally they say in itssports terms boxed above, it's with yes,

(05:41):
and we have amazing athletes, wehave amazing musicians, and it's just
the I think it's the it's theit's the it's the it's the people.
The culture. That sort of vibeJamaica is a vibe it is it is
a wonderful vibe and most visits whenthey get here capture that vibe part of

(06:01):
it. Well, it's just sobeautiful, you know, driving in from
the airport and you, like yousaid, the mountains, the blue ocean,
and then we even stopped at afew stores on the way and the
people were just so kind and nicewhen we were there. So you guys
have done an amazing job at thetourism board making everyone feel loved and safe

(06:21):
and happy here in Jamaica. Whatdo you see for the future? What
what are you reaching for now inthe future of Jamaica. Well, more
growth within the tourism space. Wedon't want to get too big, but
we're we're doing more growth. We'rediversifying the product offerings, having it more

(06:43):
Jamaicanized, so the farmers are growingmore there. We're now trying to to
get the visitor to participate more inthe local things so they're able to participate
and am zob Jamaicans. I did. I saw a lot of livestock when
we were driving in, Cows andhorses and goats. Yeah, we are.

(07:04):
We are pretty good at that.Well, I mean it's got everything.
If you're thinking about a baking makea lot of rum. Well,
I was going to ask so ifI wanted to take home some rum?
Yes, Now, I don't knowif you can say this though. You
can't tell me a favorite rum,can you? That's just like you can't
do that. You can't pick afavorite separate rooms. Can you give me?

(07:28):
Can you give me like your top? Okay? Off the air?
Off the air? And we havethe best coffee in the world. Okay,
I cannot wait to sample all thecoffees. Well, blue mon didn't
we have the best blue Blue?It's in the hills. I'm thinking about
just not going home. Is thatcool? You can I just stay here
and do all my shows from here? Yes, all right, that's possible

(07:51):
with technology. Definitely. I'm heretoday and we have good technology here.
So do you have a lot ofpeople who do move to Jamaica just to
We have quite a few. Yeah, we have quite a feel. I
just want to get the heck outof you know, we have a lot
of foreigners who made Jamaica. Daryl, Daryl, Yeah, I don't know.
Give me a couple of years.I may be right here with you.

(08:15):
Thank you so much for your timeand a pleasure and make sure you
come back and I'll tell you ofthe year that Rom and the coffee.
Okay, and I'm going to haveto write down that jerk chicken recipe because
I had that earlier. I can'tremember