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Ono river and town of Sawara.  "What I found out was ... ," said Moeko Kita, " ... there are cats here and there!" Given the significance of cats in Japanese culture – they symbolise good luck and fortune – the town of Sawara was a booming business hub. Kita, who works at Association for Promotion of International Cooperation, is an avid photographer. She was accompanying Floyd Takeuchi, a senior photographer, veteran journalist and author. Sawara, a historic trading town, is 90 minutes north of Tokyo by express bus. "It has a well-kept historic district, with the canals once used for trading boat freighters that took rice and sake to Tokyo," said Takeuchi. The preservation of history and character makes this beautiful hamlet a photographer's dream. Back to the cats, Kita said. There were not many of them in the historical district, but one could see them as one walked into the town. A black cat resting at a small shrine "There was one cat that al...

Cecil Cornwall selflessly continues to raise the bar of Jamaican tourism product Published, September 15, 2010 Hospitality Jamaica Cecil Cornwall’s life revolves around a passion, to get the youngsters who have been marginalised by society and make them well rounded professionals in Jamaica’s tourism industry. He has been living, breathing and exuding this passion for more that two decades now, when he started off Western School of Cake Decorating, Pastry Making (WSCDPM) and International & Creative Cooking (ICC) in September 1988.  Cornwall single handedly taught the foundation courses of cooking, baking and cake decorating, based on the skills he earned at STETHS and on the job.  “The idea came as result of relocating to Montego Bay where I found need for a institution, and in skills in the areas of cookings and cake decoration,” Cornwall said.  “It was an opportunity and indelible impact to community.” The institution, which started off in Montego Bay Hi...

Published February 17, 2010 Hospitality Jamaica  Amitabh Sharma Hospitality Jamaica Senior Writer It was a confluence of who’s-who at the two-day Tourism Outlook Seminar, jointly organized by the Ministry of Tourism and the Jamaica Tourist Board in association with United Nations World Tourism Organization  (UNWTO).  The seminar, which was held from February 2 – 3 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Montego Bay, brought together representatives of Caribbean governments, academia, business and regulatory agencies and Tourism associations. Organised under the theme, Challenges, Changes and Opportunities in Tourism: Rising Above the Current Global Economic Landscape, the tourism stakeholders sought to address the key issues at hand. One Caribbean Secretary General of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), Hugh Riley advocated the marketing of the Caribbean as one regional tourism destination. “Players in the region’s tourism industry have not yet been able to start m...

FACE OF THE FUTURE – Jason Miller HEART Runaway Bay valedictorian exudes qualities for youngsters to follow Published December 9, 2009 Hospitality Jamaica “We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility, ” said Rabindranath Tagore, Indian Poet, Playwright and Essayist and winner of Nobel Prize for Literature, words that Jason Miller, a Runaway Bay HEART Hotel and Training Institute graduate emulates. Miller is a "small town" boy from Snow Hill, Portland coming from humble background. “I come from a very poor family,” Miller said, “I was going down the misguided track and was idling, but then I reminded myself that I have to achieve something in life.” For him, the hospitality sector was an obvious choice, as he found that his mind-set to help and assist others could translate into good customer service and give him a chance to pursue his dreams. MISPLACED PERCEPTIONS After leaving Wolmer’s Boys High School in Kingston, he decided to join HEART Runaway Bay, but, h...