64-65 / 136
64
65
THE MONTEGO BAY CONVENTION CENTRE
CC’S courtyard, a 25,000 square-foot space
capable of holding up to 2,600 guests.
Indoor space totals 139,302 square feet; the
largest space is the 57,525 square foot Exhibit
Hall,which offers room for 282 booths, as well
as 4,700 guests seated banquet-style, or 6,200
seated theatre-style. For special events, the
18,684-square-foot Grand Ballroom can seat up
to 1,580 for banquets.There are nine meeting
rooms (with a total of 10,161 square feet),with
the largest configuration accommodating up
to 600 attendees.All spaces are equipped with
videoconferencing capabilities and high-speed
Internet. On site is a fully integrated broad-
cast and teleconference system, operated by
in-house audiovisual technicians.
Dittie Guise, the General Manager of the
Montego Bay Convention Centre, reports that,
since opening, the facility has hosted be-
tween a hundred and two-hundred-and-thirty
events a year. “There is a mix of clientele, and
as we grow over the years, the mix changes,”
she says. “We have a lot of government-spon-
sored international events, and a lot of cor-
porations –both local and international.We
have few associations, but that will grow as
we get more international business in.We
are seeing marked increases in Destination
Market Weddings and we are also very well
attended by the colleges and universities
for their graduations. Religious groups have
been quite a big draw for us - we’ve had the
United Church Convocational, and the Jamaica
Baptist Union - Jamaica Baptist alone has over
10,000 people in attendance. The Congrega-
tion of Jehovah Witnesses just signed with us
for four weekends a year for five years.”
In a competitive market–Guise says that
the MBCC competes with some local hotels for
smaller events, and against other countries in
the Caribbean for the larger ones–the amenity
that she believes sets the Centre apart is its food
and beverage department.“One of the things
that we get rated on very highly is our food,”
she states.“Our chef, Randie Anderson, has been
educated in Jamaica and in the U.S.; he has a
master’s degree in Gastronomic Tourism, and
he’s also the only person in the Caribbean who
was ever awarded a scholarship from the James
Beard Foundation.”
Indeed, before Anderson - who oversees
all of the Centre’s concessions, catering, and
special events - came to run its 15,000 square-
foot kitchen, the award-winning chef had
alreadymade a name for himself with stints
at some of NewYork’s finest restaurants and
Jamaica’s leading hotels.He has also prepared
extravagant meals for the country’s last three
prime ministers, as well as many foreign digni-
taries and celebrities. Since coming to the MBCC,
Anderson has catered manymajor events at
other SMG-owned properties in the U.S. as part
of Savor, the corporate parent’s catering arm.
Another distinguishing characteristic of the
MBCC is its dedication towards preserving the
environment. Karron Benjamin, the Centre’s
Assistant General Manager and Director of
Operations, says that its strategy is to “reduce,
reuse, and recycle” as much as possible. “We
look at our engineering, we look at our food
and beverage, and we look at our housekeep-
ing,” he states. Regarding engineering, the
goal is to reduce the cost of utilities – that
means LED lighting accompanied by as much
natural light as possible; using air condition-