Abraham Elias Issa (October 10, 1905 – November 29, 1984) was a Jamaican businessman, entrepreneur and hotelier acclaimed as "The Father of Jamaican Tourism". As the first president of the Jamaica Tourist Board he contributed to the expansion of Jamaican tourism in the late 1950s.
His business accomplishments include the founding of Jamaica's first modern department store (Issa's of King Street), the country's first shopping plazas (Tropical Plaza at Half-Way-Tree and Liguanea Plazas), Jamaica's first supermarket (Hi-Lo at Cross Roads in Kingston), Jamaica's modern horse-racing track (
Caymanas Park
Caymanas Park is Jamaica's only race track. , Caymanas Track Limited.
It was historically a
) and being a guiding force behind the development of New Kingston, now the island's commercial center. He built Tower Isle Hotel, Jamaica's first all-season resort later evolving it into Couples Hotel, Jamaica's first all-inclusive resort and first couples only resort.
Early life
Issa was born in
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...
to Mary Brimo (died 1953), daughter of Joseph Brimo, a merchant from
Damascus
Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
,
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
, and Elias Abraham Issa (May 29, 1876 – September 1, 1969), son of Abraham Issa, a merchant from
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...
, Palestine who immigrated to Kingston in 1894 with his son Elias. Issa's parents Elias and Mary were married on February 25, 1900, and the union gave birth to four children, Bertha, Abe, Joseph, and Annie.
The Issa family struggled to establish itself in Kingston. A small notions shop, opened at 32 Princess Street in 1894, failed and Abe's father and grandfather were reduced to peddling goods door to door until they could open a new shop at 27 Orange Street. By 1900 they succeeded in bringing Abe's grandmother Sara and his father's brothers John, Antonio and Joseph to Jamaica. In 1901, Issa's father Elias formed a partnership with his brothers as E.A. Issa & Bros. The enterprise thrived and in 1905 moved to 132 Harbour Street. The shop was destroyed in the January 14,
1907 Kingston earthquake
The 1907 Kingston earthquake which shook the capital of the island of Jamaica with a magnitude of 6.2 on the moment magnitude scale on Monday January 14, at about 3:30 p.m. local time (20:36 UTC), is described by the United States Geological ...
which also took the life of Abe's Uncle Joseph.
Issa began his elementary education at St. Aloysius School in 1910 then went on to high school studies at St. George's College from 1918 to 1922. Following a nine-month stint teaching English to South American students, he departed for Worcester, Massachusetts to begin his university education at
College of the Holy Cross
The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. ...
. In 1926, he graduated ''
summa cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
'' and delivered his valedictory address in
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
.
Career
Issa returned to Kingston in 1926 and entered the family business. On Dec. 1930 he opened the family's first retail store, Issa's of King Street, that featured international luxury goods.
In the early 1930s Abe traveled extensively on the business' behalf to North America and Europe. In 1934 he traveled Japan via Russia and the
Trans-Siberian Railroad
The Trans-Siberian Railway, historically known as the Great Siberian Route and often shortened to Transsib, is a large railway system that connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway ...
and worked 14 months in
Yokohama
is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...
operating a factory that manufactured rubber-soled shoes.
Abe's international experiences and knowledge of luxury quality merchandise combined with his outgoing and effusive personality served him well in the family's first move outside the retail trade. On March 14, 1943, the Issa's bought the Myrtle Bank Hotel and a next door laundry from
United Fruit Company
The United Fruit Company (later the United Brands Company) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was ...
for £35,000. Under Abe's guidance the hotel gained renown as a favored gathering spot of celebrities and distinguished visitors. Its guests included actor
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian and American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Oliv ...
, jazz great
Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
, actress
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 190? was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion-picture cont ...
,
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
, future Jamaican prime minister
Norman Manley
Norman Washington Manley (4 July 1893 – 2 September 1969) was a Jamaican statesman who served as the first and only Premier of Jamaica. A Rhodes Scholar, Manley became one of Jamaica's leading lawyers in the 1920s. Manley was an advocate o ...
, future United States presidential candidate
Adlai Stevenson II
Adlai Ewing Stevenson II (; February 5, 1900 – July 14, 1965) was an American politician and diplomat who was the United States ambassador to the United Nations from 1961 until his death in 1965. He previously served as the 31st governor of Ill ...
and British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
.
Abe rose to become the Vice President of Kingston's Chamber of Commerce. In 1942 he was heralded as "Man of the Year" by Kingston's '' Spotlight Magazine''. The following year he made a foray into politics by forming the Jamaica Democratic Party. While the party failed to win any legislative seats in the 1944 election it began Abe's long involvement in the affairs of the soon-to-be independent nation.
In 1955 Abe became the first President of the newly formed
Jamaica Tourist Board
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
serving in that post until 1963. He led an aggressive international marketing campaign. Jamaican tourism grew from 86,000 tourists and £4 million in revenue in 1955 to 227,000 tourists with £38 million in revenue in 1962. In 1958 he was appointed to Jamaica's legislative council on approval by the Queen. In 1959 he was elected President of the Caribbean Tourist Association.
During this time he led his family's business expansion with the opening of the Hi-Lo at Cross Roads in Kingston. On August 6, 1962, Jamaica became an independent nation and Abe played several key roles in the young nation's economic development. He served as a director of the Jamaica Industrial Development Corporation, headed the Development Finance Corporation, and its successor Jamaica Development Bank and as director of the Urban Development Corporation, where he outlined plans for cruise ship access to Kingston's harbor. He served as chairman of Jamaica Unit Trust Services Ltd. the managing company of the Jamaica Investment Fund and in 1974 served as chairman of Free Zone Promotional Council. From 1965 to 1972 he served as a board member of Air Jamaica. In 1968 he took over and turned around of the troubled assets of Runaway Bay Golf and Country Club and Runaway Bay Golf Course from Sunley Hotels Ltd. In 1973 he obtained the Hertz car rental franchise for Jamaica.
Awards
In 1960 Issa was made a
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(CBE) for his contributions in the field of tourism. He was awarded the
Order of Jamaica
The Order of Jamaica is the fifth of the six orders in the Jamaican honours system. The Order was established in 1969, and it is considered the equivalent of a knighthood in the British honours system.
Membership in the Order can be conferred upon ...
(OJ) in 1980 in recognition of his pioneering role in the development of the tourism industry in Jamaica. In 1984 he was awarded Norman Manley Award For Excellence in the Field of Tourism. In 2004 he was posthumously honored by being placed on a Jamaican postage stamp being hailed as "the Father of Jamaican tourism" for his role in the creation of the Jamaican Tourist Industry.Smith, Rebecca. “Postage Sheetlets Honor Issa Family.” Holy Cross Magazine 39, no. 1 & 2 (Winter / Spring 2005): p. 68.
Personal life
While on 1931 business trip to
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, Abe met Lorraine Shaouy, daughter of Adele Massabni and Elias Shaouy of Beirut, Lebanon, a designer who had moved to New York in 1898 and opened design school and was later a real estate investor. Abe and Lorraine married in Bethlehem, Palestine on Feb. 1, 1937. The couple would have six children, Carole, Brenda, the twins Suzanne and Lee (Elias), Jackie, Paul.
Issa died on November 29, 1984, following a period of terminal illness.