Dian Harrison-Holland is from Spaldings, Clarendon, and a past student of Knox College. - Contributed photos

Dian Harrison-Holland has been working with the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) for 30 years. She started working with the JTB just after leaving Knox Community College in Clarendon at age 18.

Based in Los Angeles, California, she is now responsible for tourism promotion on behalf of the JTB in 13 West Coast states. Harrison-Holland, who had no formal training in hospitality, started out doing a summer job with the agency.

"When I applied for a job at the JTB, I also applied for one at Life of Jamaica (now Sagicor Jamaica) and I got both, but decided to go with the JTB because at the time it seemed like it would have been more fun," noted Harrison-Holland.

The 30-year tourism veteran started working in Kingston as a secretary-stenographer and worked in the accounting department for 18 months before a vacancy opened in Miami, Florida.

Inexperienced

Despite critics saying that she was inexperienced at the time for the job in Miami, Harrison-Holland brushed them aside, applied for the position and was successful. She worked in Miami 18 months in the post as an executive secretary to the then general manager.

When a decision was taken to have the tourist board's office relocated to New York, she was not happy about going there and instead went to Los Angeles where the board had also decided to increase the staff complement from two to four persons.

Without a clue as to where exactly Los Angeles was, she decided to go. She was given the responsibility for managing the accounting budget, making sure that it balanced at all times and to report to the JTB's head offices in Jamaica.

Harrison-Holland accords much of the credit for her success with the JTB in the United States to current Deputy Director Donnie Dawson.

"He is the type of person who did not consider himself the 'boss'. He recognised that we all work for the JTB and even though he was in charge of the office, he did not think that he had to do everything. So at times, he would 'throw us in the water', so to speak, and say swim," noted Harrison-Holland.

She pointed out that staff at the Los Angeles offices were given the opportunity at all times to represent Dawson at numerous events and they all had to have a desire to learn how to do new things in order to get ahead.

In her current role as business development manager for the JTB in Los Angeles, she has responsibility for promoting Jamaica's tourism product. This includes working alongside travel agents to promote the Jamaican destination, while making it easier to sell to visitors.

When the JTB decided to close its offices in the United States, with the exception of the one in Miami in 2003, representation was still kept in the region. Harrison-Holland was one of them, and now she does her work from her home in California.

She reports whatever happens in that region, markets the product in parts of Washington, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon and parts of southern and northern California. She often attends trade shows, makes presentations to various travel agents and other groups and teaches prospective visitors to Jamaica about her island home.

"Working at home, I now have to balance my personal life with the job. Along with a husband and two children, I am practically married to the JTB. My thing is about representing my country; it is a passion. It's more than a job, it's more than a salary at the end of the month because I am very close to Jamaica where my parents still live," noted Harrison-Holland.

Harrison-Holland is the daughter of Harry and Genevieve Harrison, business operators in Spaldings, Clarendon.

Too much crime here

Though she would like to return home with her husband one day, she told Flair it would be difficult, especially with the level of crime that currently exists in the country. She said a lot would have to be changed for her to return permanently, including the basic discipline of the people.

"I am proud to be a Jamaican and I always try to pull out the good things about Jamaica and build on them. Jamaicans need to reinforce the good things that come out of our country and those are some of the things that keep me going and have assisted me in being proud of my country."

Despite the negatives, Harrison-Holland has been able to hold her head high as Jamaica has been able to pull itself out of many crisises. And in spite of the global economic crisis and current recession in the United States, she does not have a difficulty marketing Jamaica. She, however, noted that in doing so she has to believe fully in the destination. She noted that when persons learn about our cultures they are in awe and that makes her marketing job easy.

"I always say that Jamaica's best asset is its people, who have carried on the destination. We consider our visitors more than just spending their money here. We are most caring for our visitors. I believe in Jamaica because what we have surpasses what many other destinations have."

Harrison-Holland has no trouble marketing Jamaica in spite of the global economic downturn.