We’re delighted to announce that the winner of our Product Development Competition is Nonsuch Falls in Portland.
Non Such Falls provides adventure tours and nature experiences to the tallest waterfall in Jamaica and now plans to add ‘Camping ‘Pon Di Falls’ to its offer, giving visitors the chance to extend their experience in nature and enjoy the views from the top of the falls by staying in a pre-pitched tent. Campers will also get the chance to enjoy local dishes made by a personal chef.
The product development competition was open to the seven businesses selected for the Big Up Small Business ‘Booster Programme’. As the winning entry, Nonsuch Falls will receive a GBP £2,000 award to be used to support business development and improvement.
Fabian Samuels, Nonsuch Falls’ General Manager said, ‘Winning this competition will allow us to expand our business, including through supporting road improvements and bathroom facilities. As well as enabling an inspirational and memorable extended visit for our guests, we hope that our new offer will also benefit the whole local community, through employment opportunities and through our use of local produce.’
Coral Purvil-Williams from the Travel Foundation said, ‘The pandemic has been a very challenging time for many tourism businesses and we’re delighted to see the innovation and creativity with which the businesses on our booster programme are adapting their offers to meet new market trends. The judges particularly liked the gastronomy element of the new offer from Nonsuch Falls, which taps into the burgeoning trend for locally produced, culturally important food. We would also like to commend Trench Town Ceramic and Art Centre for their ‘clay experience’ idea and their support for their local community.’
As well as the award for the winning entry by Nonsuch Falls, a special one-off award of £1,000 is being made to Trench Town Ceramic and Art Centre, in recognition of the ways in which their initiative is directly designed to support children and young people in their community and to be used specifically for that purpose.
Big Up Small Business aims to support small tourism businesses to recover following the pandemic. A free, ‘Are You Ready For Recovery?’ toolkit is available at www.bigupsmallbusiness.org and covers everything from market trends to pricing, health and safety to customer service.
A huge thank you and well done to all the businesses that took part!
If you haven’t already downloaded our ‘Are You Ready for Recovery’ toolkit, designed specifically for small tourism businesses in Jamaica, click here.
