KINGSTON, Jamaica – Air Jamaica’s Senior Executive Marketing and Sales, George DeMercado has been named the Caribbean Hotel Association’s (CHA) 2006 “Allied Member of the Year” at the CHA awards luncheon held in Miami on Tuesday.
CHA honored George for his tireless commitment to furthering the Caribbean tourism product worldwide. He has had a distinguished career which began at Pan American World Airways and continued with the Jamaica Tourist Board where he served as deputy director of tourism before moving on to his current position at Air Jamaica.
George deMercado
George shared honors with fellow hospitality industry officials, including legendary Jamaican musician and entertainer Byron Lee of Byron Lee and the Dragonaires who recently celebrated at the 2006 Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues festival, his 50th anniversary of delivering unforgettable Caribbean music to the Caribbean and world over.
“To say that I am surprised is the understatement of the year,” said a teary-eyed “Mr. D” as George DeMercado is affectionately referred to by his staff. “There should be a law against people being given awards for doing things that they love. Over the 45 years that I have been in the industry, I have enjoyed every minute of it – the people that I have met, the people I have worked for, all the people whose lives have influenced me or I have had the chance to influence,” he said.
George thanked CHA and American Express for sharing the honor, but paid special tribute to his wife Loraine, family and special friends for “constantly being the wind behind my sails.”
