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Montego Bay - the New York of Jamaica ... sort of
Published: Thursday | June 11, 2009
SURROUNDED BY the Caribbean Sea, Montego Bay is a place with unrivalled history, cultivating a one-of-a-kind infusion of tourism and cultural preservation.
Dubbed the Second City, few can argue Montego Bay's title as the tourism capital of the island. Even more than that, the city has a unique way of distinctly criss-crossing Jamaican culture with tourism.
However, members of one tourism entity - the Harbour Street Craft Market - claim not to be steady beneficiaries of this revered tourism diversity, especially in recent times. The craft market, according to them, is quickly becoming a commodity of the past, following in the footsteps of the 'cursed' trade industries of yesteryear. The quality of craft items has diminished, there are fewer stores, and bribery is rampant - or so some crafters say.
"We have families to feed and these days, we're just not making enough money," said one crafter, who travels from Westmoreland daily in order to vend at the Harbour Street Craft Market. "No one is speaking for us. We need someone to help us get our point across that traders are suffering."
<span style="font-weight: bold">Slowly becoming extinct</span>
Montego Bay's crafting history began as far back as the days when Spanish settlers called it Bahia de Manteca, meaning Bay of Lard. During the Spanish occupation, trade was a distinct adornment. Now, some crafters believe trade or 'crafting' is slowly becoming extinct, and the victims of that process are those from the craft market community.
Harbour Street trader Marjorie Kelly said crafters sometimes sit for an entire day and not one visitor will go by the area. Others said that the delayed renovation of their shops may be a contributing factor to the downturn in business.
Traders of both the Old Fort and Harbour Street craft markets have reported a large decline in visitors patronising their shops. However, some members of the Old Fort Craft Market community believe they may be retaining higher visitation than the Harbour Street Craft Market because of location. Market members from both areas are uncertain if the Second City will ever return to the trading splendour of days past.
One crafter, Hopeton Anderson, who inherited his craft shop at Harbour Street from his parents, believes a change will come soon. He encouraged crafters to be patient and grateful they don't pay rent while the new construction takes place. The renovated craft shops should have been completed in March, according to Anderson.
Some traders say that while many tourists come to the island, they do not come to their markets. They claim the craft markets in Montego Bay are not being 'sold' to cruise line passengers and all-inclusive resort dwellers. Others say that some drivers are bribed by competing stores to take visitors to their 'in town' shops and not the craft markets.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Harassment</span>
"Harassment is the number one reason why craft market visitation is on the decline," said Robert Russell, chairman of the Tourism Product Development Company.
Russell suggested that the 'pushing of drugs' in craft market areas is another cause of the industry's ebb, information he derived from resort and cruise line visitor reports. According to Russell, however, there is something that will be done to help restore the craft trade industry soon. According to him, the building of an artisan village is set to commence in six months. The craft village will exhibit workers in action and offer food, liquor, and music to visitors.
Despite the rise-and-fall history of the area's trade industry, Montego Bay remains a popular counter culture that offers variety in regard to its people, its history, its practices, and intertwines it with the bay's most important source of revenue - tourism. Most Harbour Street traders agreed that if the fate of their market, in particular, becomes desolate, that it would be a great loss to the Second City.
The Harbour Street Craft Market, once the epitome of all craft markets, is the primary place in Montego Bay where visitors can experience the true essence of cultural immersion by observing a colourful, age-old landmark while walking among a downtown community of people who represent the 'outameni' experience.
- <span style="font-style: italic">Stories and photos by Hope Evans</span>
Published: Thursday | June 11, 2009
SURROUNDED BY the Caribbean Sea, Montego Bay is a place with unrivalled history, cultivating a one-of-a-kind infusion of tourism and cultural preservation.
Dubbed the Second City, few can argue Montego Bay's title as the tourism capital of the island. Even more than that, the city has a unique way of distinctly criss-crossing Jamaican culture with tourism.
However, members of one tourism entity - the Harbour Street Craft Market - claim not to be steady beneficiaries of this revered tourism diversity, especially in recent times. The craft market, according to them, is quickly becoming a commodity of the past, following in the footsteps of the 'cursed' trade industries of yesteryear. The quality of craft items has diminished, there are fewer stores, and bribery is rampant - or so some crafters say.
"We have families to feed and these days, we're just not making enough money," said one crafter, who travels from Westmoreland daily in order to vend at the Harbour Street Craft Market. "No one is speaking for us. We need someone to help us get our point across that traders are suffering."
<span style="font-weight: bold">Slowly becoming extinct</span>
Montego Bay's crafting history began as far back as the days when Spanish settlers called it Bahia de Manteca, meaning Bay of Lard. During the Spanish occupation, trade was a distinct adornment. Now, some crafters believe trade or 'crafting' is slowly becoming extinct, and the victims of that process are those from the craft market community.
Harbour Street trader Marjorie Kelly said crafters sometimes sit for an entire day and not one visitor will go by the area. Others said that the delayed renovation of their shops may be a contributing factor to the downturn in business.
Traders of both the Old Fort and Harbour Street craft markets have reported a large decline in visitors patronising their shops. However, some members of the Old Fort Craft Market community believe they may be retaining higher visitation than the Harbour Street Craft Market because of location. Market members from both areas are uncertain if the Second City will ever return to the trading splendour of days past.
One crafter, Hopeton Anderson, who inherited his craft shop at Harbour Street from his parents, believes a change will come soon. He encouraged crafters to be patient and grateful they don't pay rent while the new construction takes place. The renovated craft shops should have been completed in March, according to Anderson.
Some traders say that while many tourists come to the island, they do not come to their markets. They claim the craft markets in Montego Bay are not being 'sold' to cruise line passengers and all-inclusive resort dwellers. Others say that some drivers are bribed by competing stores to take visitors to their 'in town' shops and not the craft markets.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Harassment</span>
"Harassment is the number one reason why craft market visitation is on the decline," said Robert Russell, chairman of the Tourism Product Development Company.
Russell suggested that the 'pushing of drugs' in craft market areas is another cause of the industry's ebb, information he derived from resort and cruise line visitor reports. According to Russell, however, there is something that will be done to help restore the craft trade industry soon. According to him, the building of an artisan village is set to commence in six months. The craft village will exhibit workers in action and offer food, liquor, and music to visitors.
Despite the rise-and-fall history of the area's trade industry, Montego Bay remains a popular counter culture that offers variety in regard to its people, its history, its practices, and intertwines it with the bay's most important source of revenue - tourism. Most Harbour Street traders agreed that if the fate of their market, in particular, becomes desolate, that it would be a great loss to the Second City.
The Harbour Street Craft Market, once the epitome of all craft markets, is the primary place in Montego Bay where visitors can experience the true essence of cultural immersion by observing a colourful, age-old landmark while walking among a downtown community of people who represent the 'outameni' experience.
- <span style="font-style: italic">Stories and photos by Hope Evans</span>
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