A German shindig at RIU

Richard Morais, Gleaner Writer

NEGRIL, Hanover:

THE GERMAN tourist market is alive and well, if the fun they had and pronouncements made by some of the country's top tour representatives are any indication. They were hosted by Riu Hotel at its Riu Palace Tropical Bay in Negril, on Saturday, November 26. They spoke in glowing terms of Jamaica.

A beaming Tanya Struessmann, an agent from TUI, a top travel agency in Germany, said, "It's my first time here. It's beautiful, incredible! I never thought that it would be this special. The landscape, the people, the music, the feeling, I love it!" Agent Artur Wirtz, who spoke very little English, was beyond himself. He danced all night, and when he could not express himself in English, he just gave the thumbs-up sign to the bar, the food counter and musicians!

Director of sales for Riu Jamaica, Angella Bennett, noted, "This is a German appreciation. These are our top agents responsible for about 80 per cent of the German tourists to Riu." She added that is also a large part of the total Riu guests.

It's a highly favoured event by the hotel, as some of its top players attended, including Frank Sondern, director of operations; Oliver Samorey and Brigitte Pelzer, key account managers; Felix Sanchez, corporate food and beverage manager; Edgar Ortiz, manager and assistant of the host hotel; and Robert Thompson.

The hotel chain laid out the proverbial red carpet for this event. Set on the beach with torches and craft to depict a rustic background with an elaborately laid-out dinner setting, the guests were treated to a wide variety of dishes and drinks. The superb entertainment package started with the Riu entertainment team's African dance and fire performance. This was followed by the Blow Wow Band, which kept the audience rocking with a variety of hits from different genres and eras.

The very talented Dean Stephens reeled off hit after hit that had the crowd on its feet for most of the band's approximately two-hour stint. While it is natural for the lead singer to get the accolades during performances, the keyboard player Richard Campbell, bass player Othniel 'Teddy P' Campbell and drummer Paul Kastick, were very professional and complemented the vocals well.

Way after midnight with the official party ended, guests remained on the beach drinking what many say is a German pastime, the Jamaican beer.