Excerpt from the speech made by Hon. Mark Espat, Minister of Tourism. This speech was delivered at BTIA's 2000 Mid-Year General Meeting.

"...It would be shameful to speak with you today and not take a minute to salute a Belizean woman who embodied this love for tourism of which I speak - Mrs.Jean Shaw, Just of the Peace and Member of the British Empire. Mrs. Shaw was my neighbor during the past five and half years. I cannot speak of what kind of mother Jean was though Jeannie and Tommy do appear to be great kids; I cannot even speak of Jean's contribution as founding President to this organization - at the time I was just starting high school, Jean was mobilizing the private sector of this great industry. While family, friends and industry peers have resoundingly sang her praises as a mother and industry activist, I can tell you, as her neighbor and customer that she was a hotelier dedicated to her field, a host committed to total guest satisfaction, a manager that led by example. My memories of Jean Shaw will always be flooded with deep admiration for her patriotic and pioneering spirit. We will all miss her dearly.

There are powerful lessons for us in Jean Shaw's work, lessons for our industry; these lessons I feel are inextricably related to the issue of marketing, which is the topic I was asked to address. Allow me, if you would be so kind, to elaborate, for just a few minutes on two of the lessons, I take from Jean's work: firstly, unrelenting commitment to her product and secon, uninterrupted commitment to her industry. Both of these are prerequisites to overcoming many of those challenges that confront us..."

"...Why? Why can't it be banana cake on the desert menu, instead of cheesecake? Can't it be cassava pudding instead of key lime pie? Why not potato pound or sour sop ice cream instead of chocolate cake? Offer a tour that you designed to a different area rather than the easier tour that everybody else offers. Visit the Southern Districts and search for new suppliers of arts and crafts. Offer the visitors Belizean music and Belizean art. Invest in a training program for your employees rather than paying severance pay, again. Visit the local crafts person rather than ordering those generic scenes that may be cheaper but so much less attractive. Be Belizean, be creative, be unique. Live your product and it will sell. That is the commitment to the Belizean product that Jean Shaw exemplified..."

Member - Belize Audubon Society
Member - Belize Tourism Industry Association