(Jamaica Gleaner) Jamaica’s travel industry lost another veteran recently with the passing of Marcia Sinclair, sales relations manager at the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) office in New York.
Sinclair, who previously worked at the JTB location in Kingston, died on August 4 after a brief illness in Queens, New York.
She passed away on the same day she was planning a robust online celebration of Jamaica’s independence for travel agents and other industry partners.
Sinclair joined the JTB in the mid-eighties and served for 34 years.
Her passion for promoting Jamaica was legendary and when travel to the island was halted due to COVID-19, she helped to devised innovative ways to keep Destination Jamaica top-of-mind in the marketplace through ongoing engagement with travel agents, tour operators, and other industry partners.
Another area of her focus was the Diaspora market and she went to great lengths to promote travel among non-resident Jamaicans while retaining excellent relationships with a multitude of Diaspora organisations in the region.
“Marcia was a true leader. She embraced the travel industry and the Jamaican Diaspora, and they in turn embraced her. Marcia will be greatly missed, but her memory will live on forever,” Donnie Dawson, deputy director of tourism for the Americas, told The Gleaner.
“The Jamaica Tourist Board honours Marcia Sinclair for her many years of service and her consistent demonstration of excellence has been an invaluable asset to the JTB,” a spokesperson for the board’s Kingston headquarters said in a statement.
During her tenure at the JTB, Sinclair was the recipient of numerous industry awards.
In 2015, she was voted the winner of the prestigious ‘Top Supplier Representative’ in the international tourist board category from Travel Agent Magazine.
A celebration of the life of Marcia Sinclair will be held on Thursday, August 20 at 11:00 a.m. at the Bethlehem Assembly of God, 12 East Fairview Avenue, Valley Stream in Long Island.
The service will be streamed live on the church’s Facebook and YouTube pages as well as on its website at bethlehemag.org.
