ATI reconsiders crowded Negril

Mark Titus, Gleaner Writer

Alex Chin, head of Absolute Entertainment, says there is a bright future for Appleton Temptation Isle (ATI), but has hinted at a possible move from its original home in Negril.

"I am confident in ATI moving forward, but I am not confident in ATI necessarily being in Negril," he told The Gleaner. "But we are still weighing our options as to where we would relocate to, so I will not say any more right now."

It was a less-than-impressive 2012 production from ATI, the pioneer of the party series concept. Apart from events such as Naked, the Official and Original Water Party and Full Moon, other offerings fell short of expectations and Chin said his team must shoulder some of the blame for the inconsistencies.

"We do agree that we could have done better than we have done, but we had some difficulty getting equipment with Jamaica 50 celebrations taking place islandwide," Chin told The Gleaner on Monday. "We also had a problem with our suppliers executing exactly what we wanted."

According to him, Negril has become less appealing and somewhat crowded after not only the entry of the Smirnoff Dream Weekend four years ago, but new kid on the block Rum-Bar Tropical Island (RTI) this year. Three of RTI's six events - Impy Skimpy, Pretty in Pink and Rhythm and Booze - were once part of the more senior organiser's package.

Additional events have made traversing the main thoroughfare of the resort town even more difficult during the party period.

"I cannot speak to the other organisers, but the traffic with more parties being offered has created a problem for us and the late start of some of our events or even our DJs was mainly because of this," Chin said.

In the meantime, Gary Dixon, head of marketing J. Wray & Nephew Limited, was cautious when quizzed on the future relationship with the ATI brand.

"We got some things right, some not so right. There is definitely room for improvement, but one thing for sure is, the patrons that supported us did enjoy themselves. The energy level was off the chain," Dixon said. "Any product that you have, there is a time that you have to take a look at whether you will invest more to take it to another level, or hold out where you are, or cash out and move on, but a review will be done."

Still, there were a number of pluses from ATI 2012, such as the new age-verification initiative whereby only persons of the legal drinking age can enter events sponsored by J. Wray & Nephew Limited and Red Stripe Limited, Jamaica's leading alcohol beverage producers.

Neither can anyone discount the quality line-up of DJs offered by ATI, including Zany and Crazy Chris, as well as promising selector Flabba Dabba and the popular ZJ Ice. Super Sound, Renaissance Disco and Black Chiney showed they are masters of their craft.